Bassist

Singer

It’s a fabulous night of orchestra-meets-jazz with headliner—and Portland’s own—esperanza spalding: bassist, singer, songwriter, composer, and Grammy Award winner performing her own songs with arrangements that showcase the expanded forces of the orchestra. Among esperanza’s heroes is jazz icon and multi-Grammy Award winner Wayne Shorter, whose music you’ll also enjoy on this program, including Gaia, a work for vocals, jazz quartet, and orchestra co-written with spalding.

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esperanza spalding

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Born in 1984 in Portland, Oregon, esperanza spalding is an eaabibacliitoti* artist, trained and initiated in the North American (masculine) jazz lineage and tradition. Her work interweaves through various combinations of instrumental music, bass playing, improvisation, singing, composition, poetry, dance, therapeutic research, storytelling, teaching, regenerative agriculture, urban land & artist-sanctuary custodianship, and growing in love as a daughter, sister, cousin, niece, auntie, great-auntie, friend, while collaboratively decolonizing within and through her hometown community.

Rockport Music-Shalin Liu Performance Center

MYS’ 50th Anniversary Season finale features five-time GRAMMY winner, Portland native, and barrier breaker esperanza spalding in performance with MYS musicians.

Esperanza Spalding

Emphasizing simplicity and intimacy of her voice, bass, and songs, in this special configuration of 2 musicians and 2 dancers, esperanza performs songs from all 8 of her previous albums, songs from current releases, plus a special preview of her forthcoming project.

Marcus Performing Arts Center

### Event Description: Esperanza Spalding at North Shore Center For The Performing Arts

**Date:** Monday, September 16  
**Time:** 7:30 PM  
**Venue:** Center Theatre, North Shore Center For The Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60077  
**Ticket Price:** $70 - $115  
**Website for Tickets:** [Ticketmaster Event Page](https://www.ticketmaster.com/esperanza-spalding-skokie-illinois-09-16-2024/event/070060B1BE7336F0CAMEFROMCFCCENTERTHEATREWEBWEBSITEESPERANZASPALDING)

Join us for an unforgettable evening with the multi-talented artist Esperanza Spalding at the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts. Born in 1984 in Portland, Oregon, Esperanza Spalding, also known as Irma Nejando, is a renowned artist deeply rooted in the North American jazz tradition. Her work spans a diverse array of disciplines including instrumental music, improvisation, singing, composition, poetry, dance, and more.

Esperanza's innovative approach to music and performance has earned her critical acclaim and a dedicated following. She is the co-founder and lead curator of Prismid Inc., a non-profit organization that supports artist residencies, performances, and workshops in Portland, Oregon. Her recent projects include collaborating on the opera "Iphigenia" with Wayne Shorter, developing a mockumentary with Brontë Velez and the San Francisco Symphony, and leading therapeutic-arts research residencies through the Songwrights Apothecary Lab.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the unique and transformative artistry of Esperanza Spalding live. Secure your tickets now and be part of an evening that promises to be both inspiring and entertaining.

**Additional Information:**
- **Box Office Contact:** 847-673-6300
- **Admin Office Contact:** 847-679-9501
- **Current Box Office Hours:** 
  - Tuesday-Saturday: 11 AM - 5 PM
  - Sunday: Two hours prior to show time

For more details on safety entry procedures, directions, parking, and other visitor information, please visit the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts website.

North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie

This tribute concert honors the life and legacy of the great jazz innovator, composer, bandleader, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter who passed away in March 2023. These performances feature five longtime Shorter collaborators in their BSO debuts, including the Grammy Award-winning bassist and vocalist esperanza spalding. spalding wrote the libretto for Shorter’s 2022 opera …(Iphigenia), which was premiered in Boston in 2021 and is based on the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides.

Celebrating the Symphonic Legacy of Wayne Shorter

Boston Symphony Hall

There has been no looking back for esperanza spalding. After winning the 2011 Grammy® Award for Best New Artist, the bassist and singer has gone on to win four more Grammys®, including Best Jazz Vocal in 2020, and to wow audiences all over the world. Is esperanza spalding the hottest musician in jazz today? Come find out for yourself in this kickoff to our Jazz Series!

An Evening with Esperanza Spalding

Shermerhorn Symphony Center

Join us at the Marcus Performing Arts Center for an unforgettable evening with the incomparable Esperanza Spalding. This special performance is set to take place on September 17 at 7:30 pm, promising an intimate showcase of Esperanza's unique blend of jazz, improvisation, and poetry. The concert will feature a special configuration of 2 musicians and 2 dancers, bringing to life songs from all 8 of Esperanza's previous albums, current releases, and even a sneak peek of her forthcoming project.

Esperanza Spalding, also known as Irma Nejando, is a multifaceted artist deeply rooted in the North American masculine jazz tradition. Her work spans across instrumental music, singing, composition, and much more, all while engaging in community and cultural initiatives. This performance at Uihlein Hall, located at 929 N Water St, Milwaukee, WI, is not just a concert but a celebration of Esperanza's diverse talents and her contributions to the arts.

Tickets for this age 4 & up event will soon be on sale, and those interested in experiencing this unique blend of jazz and dance should stay tuned for the announcement of single ticket availability. For groups, contact the Group Sales team to reserve your seats and be part of this extraordinary night.

Don't miss your chance to experience the artistry of Esperanza Spalding in this one-of-a-kind performance. Subscribe now for seats and be part of the MPAC Presents Jazz Subscriptions to enjoy this and other jazz shows. For more information, visit the Marcus Performing Arts Center's website or call 414-273-7206.

Felipe Lara’s Double Concerto, written specifically for flutist Claire Chase and jazz bassist and singer esperanza spalding, employs a vast array of effects from both soloists. In Petrushka Stravinsky created an exciting new world of sound — shifting rhythms and keys, and echoes of a barrel organ — to tell the story of a puppet love triangle set at a Shrovetide Fair. Susanna Mälkki conducts.

Mälkki Conducts Stravinsky and Lara

Lincoln Center

Susanna Mälkki leads the LA Phil in the joyous polkas and melancholy dumkas of Dvořák’s spirited Slavonic Dances. Written while the composer was relatively unknown, Dvořák’s spirited transformation of Czech and Bohemian folk dances rhythms launched his career. Famously obsessed with railroads—even saying once he would trade all his symphonies for having invented the locomotive—the Slavonic Dances invites listeners to imagine a train journey through Eastern Europe, taking in the many dance melodies heard at weddings and celebrations.

Mälkki Leads Dvořák

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Under the leadership of Gustavo Dudamel and María Valverde, the Dudamel Foundation and the LA Phil will co-present their first Encuentros in the United States in July and August 2022.
Encuentros explores cultural unity and celebrates harmony, equality, dignity, beauty, and respect through music, with the goal of inspiring and teaching a new generation of young leaders to work toward building a better world. The Dudamel Foundation and LA Phil are inviting 90 young musicians (ages 18–26) from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa—top tier players from a host of international El Sistema-inspired programs—to work together with students from the United States, side-by-side in the Encuentros Orchestra.
During the two-week intensive global leadership and orchestral training program, workshops and concerts will be conducted by Dudamel with additional sectionals and master classes led by a faculty of musicians from the LA Phil and guest instructors from other top international orchestras. The young musicians will also participate in community initiatives, mentorship opportunities with the YOLA National Festival, and projects throughout Los Angeles, culminating with concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and in Santa Barbara and Berkeley.
For this very special concert, multi-Grammy-winning vocalist, bassist, and composer esperanza spalding—who recently took home a 2022 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album—joins conductor and orchestra under the stars at UC Berkeley’s magnificent William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts Encuentros Orchestra

University of California, Berkeley

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 Greek myth and opera are re-imagined through a classical and jazz-infused score and deeply poetic libretto. Two of the most visionary and daring musical voices of our time embark on a staged intervention into myth-making. spalding leads a company of nineteen vocalists and chamber orchestra, with Shorter's venerated jazz trio at its center.

(Iphigenia)

The Broad Stage

A living legend of jazz collaborates with one of the brightest lights of the younger generation in the West Coast premiere of a Cal Performances co-commission that reimagines what opera can be, and asks us to reexamine the stories we have inherited and the choices we make as a society.Wayne Shorter, 11-time Grammy-winning composer and saxophonist, has written the music, and esperanza spalding, 2022 Grammy nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album, four-time Grammy-winning bassist, composer, and vocalist, is the librettist and plays the title role in Iphigenia, a radical new take on Euripides’ ancient Greek play Iphigenia in Aulis. Classical and jazz forms collide in an expansive score that features Shorter’s groundbreaking method of symphonic improvisation, lifting up Spalding’s artfully poetic and fractured libretto.The fully staged work is performed by a 28-piece chamber ensemble; the rhythm section of Shorter’s venerated quartet (Shorter himself does not perform); a cast of nine vocalists; and a chorus of 10 singers; with set design by icon Frank Gehry and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. As spalding explains, “Our Iphigenia has at its core a sense of autonomy—in this adventure of life, you have freedom of choice. The overarching sentiment is one of humanistic love, of wanting to re-awaken the dreams of youth free of the pressures of adulthood.”

Jazz: WAYNE SHORTER & ESPERANZA SPALDING’S …(Iphigenia)

Herbie Hancock is one of the most revered and innovative musicians in jazz history. His restless reinventive spirit has found him exploring African music, funk, classical, electronic music, hip-hop, and more. Whether he’s teaming up with the LA Phil or dialing in outer-space sounds on his keytar, Herbie is always on the move. He returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage for a night of freewheeling and thought-provoking jazz.

Bassist, Singer

Esperanza Spalding

Events

Past events

18 - 19 Oct, 2025

esperanza spalding · Oregon Symphony

Aug 10, 2025

esperanza spalding · Rockport Music

About

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