John Hollenbeck

Genre-crossing composer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, renowned in both the jazz and new music worlds, has gained widespread recognition as the driving force behind the unclassifiable Claudia Quintet and the ambitious John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, groups with roots in jazz, world music, and contemporary composition. He integrates his deep interest in contemporary composition and spiritual practice into a musical language that is as accessible and expressive as it is advanced. He has earned six GRAMMY nominations for: Best Jazz Large Ensemble Album for his albums “Songs You Like a Lot”, “All Can Work”, "A Blessing" and “eternal interlude”; for his composition “Falling Men” from Shut Up and Dance; and for his arrangement of Jimmy Webb’s “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress” from Songs I Like a Lot. He has worked with many of the world's leading musicians in jazz including Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, and is well known in new-music circles for his longtime collaboration with Meredith Monk and for his work with Ensemble Cairn of France. John’s most notable awards include a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2010 ASCAP Jazz Vanguard Award, and a 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. He has created an extensive body of work including commissions by Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ethos Percussion Group, University of Rochester, Melbourne Jazz Festival, Orchestre National de Jazz, and Frankfurt Radio Big Band. He was professor of Jazz Drums and Improvisation at the Jazz Institute Berlin from 2005-2016 and joined McGill University Schulich School of Music’s faculty in 2015.