Myra Melford

Myra Melford is an avant-garde jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader born in Evanston, Illinois, who has spent over three decades creating innovative music drawing from diverse sources including blues, classical training, Indian classical music, and the AACM tradition. A 2013 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, she is known for her percussive virtuosity, compositional sophistication, and ability to bridge the avant-garde and mainstream jazz worlds.