Described as “one of the transforming figures of early 21st century jazz,” by The Guardian and as a “state-of-the-art musical thinker” by The New York Times, Steve Lehman is a composer, performer, educator, and scholar who works across a broad spectrum of experimental musical idioms. Lehman’s pieces for large orchestra and chamber ensembles have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, So Percussion, JACK Quartet, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. His recent recording, The People I Love, was cited as one of the “Top 10 Jazz Albums” of 2019 by NPR Music, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. His previous recordings include, Sélébéyone (2016), Mise en Abîme (NPR #1 Jazz Album of 2014), and Travail, Transformation & Flow (NY Times #1 Jazz Album of 2009).

The recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, Lehman is an alto saxophonist who has performed and recorded nationally and internationally with his own ensembles and with those led by Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer, George Lewis, Bennie Maupin, Jason Moran, Georgia-Anne Muldrow, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tyshawn Sorey, and High Priest of Antipop Consortium, among many others. He has taught undergraduate courses at Columbia University and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and is currently a professor of music at the California Institute of the Arts near Los Angeles.