Who is Ayanna Woods?
Composer, improviser,
bandleader of her group Yadda Yadda,
sought-after touring bassist in the bands
TASHA, Manual Cinema, and Ben LaMar Gay,
Grammy-nominated singer in Ted Hearne’s PLACE (Pulitzer finalist 2021),
starkly frank lyricist, generous and innovative colleague.
Ayanna will be with us lots: she’s here now! (Thus, the photo above, taken last night!)
She’ll be in residence as we develop our various projects of the season, getting to know us even better – all leading to a substantial new composition for The Crossing to be premiered at the start of the 2023-2024 season.
She’ll also be spending significant time with the fantastic community of the PA Girlchoir, conducting a series of workshops with the girls to derive musical material examining sisterhood and identity in post-Covid times. After the workshops, Ayanna will fashion this material into a second commission to be premiered and toured by PA Girlchoir in Fall 2023.
Welcome, Ayanna, our first resident composer.