George Lewis is an American composer, musicologist, and trombonist. He is Professor of American Music at Columbia University and Artistic Director of the International Contemporary Ensemble, as well as a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy, and a member of the Akademie der Künste Berlin.
GIO first worked with George Lewis in 2003 when he came to Glasgow with The International Composers And Improvisers Ensemble from Munich and both ensembles (around 50 musicians) led by George collaborated in a wild and celebratory first encounter. In 2007 we commissioned George to write a piece specifically to be performed at GIOfest that year and the resultant piece Artificial Life 2007 is not only one GIO return to frequently, but is performed around the world by other ensembles. The recording of the premiere at GIOfest in 2007 was lost and we had to wait till GIOfest 2012 to record this version. George’s own notes state: “Artificial Life 2007 is designed to realise a model of group improvisation as an emergent phenomenon based upon negotiation and local intelligence.” We’ve been lucky to maintain a close working relationship with George whose visits to Glasgow are always action packed, fun and inspiring.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/15/george-lewis-music-review https://www.americancomposers.org/composers/george-lewis https://ideasimagination.columbia.edu/fellows/george-lewis/