Steph Richards

Session: A Tribute to Tom Stevens

Steph Richards is a dynamic experimentalist and improvisor known for her innovative approach to the trumpet and interdisciplinary expression as a composer. An “innately adventurous trumpeter…forging a distinctive path through jazz and experimental music”, (Downbeat), she has collaborated with visionaries ranging Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton and John Zorn to art pop luminaries Yoko Ono, St. Vincent, David Byrne and Laurie Anderson. 

Her original solo records have garnered critical acclaim including Record of the Year by the New York Times Playlist and Downbeat and span interactions with film, poetry, electronics, choreography and scent. Her seminal record Supersense (2019) featuring all-star improvisers Jason Moran, Stomu Takeishi and Kenny Wolleson included work with the acclaimed multimedia artist Sean Raspet to create singular, abstract scents to both inform and accompany the recording. Her work as a composer ischaracterized by The New York Times as “boldly inventive…Steph Richards composes in ways that standard notation could never document.” Her work as an improviser has brought her into contact with some of the most adventurous voices in jazz and experimental music, including Ravi Coltrane, Jason Moran, Nicole Mitchell, Vijay Iyer and Jeff Parker while her conducting work, informed by the concept of “Conduction” developed by Butch Morris, has taken her to orchestras around the world, where she continues to push the boundaries of musical expression.

As a founding member of Bang on a Can’s Asphalt Orchestra and a collaborator with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Anthony Braxton’s Tricentric Orchestra, Henry Threadgill’s Kestra, and the Kronos Quartet, Richards’ ensemble work has resulted in hundreds of premiered works including by composers Nico Muhly, Tyondai Braxton and John Luther Adams, interdisciplinary artists Mike Kelley, Laurie Anderson and Yoko Ono and with choreographers Susan Marshall, Paul Taylor, David Dorfman and the Merce Cunningham company. She joined the faculty of music at the University of San Diego, California in 2014. Richards is a Yamaha artist.  – “A rising force in avant-garde jazz…Steph Richards is a virtuoso of otherworldly trumpet sound” Jazz Times