Faculty

Profile

Soprano saxophonist/composer Jane Ira Bloom has been full-time faculty at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music since 1998, and holds degrees from Yale University and Yale School of Music. She is a pioneer in the use of live electronics and movement in jazz and winner of the Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album, the Guggenheim Fellowship for music composition, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Award for lifetime service to jazz, Downbeat International Critics Poll & Jazz Journalists Award for soprano saxophone, the IWJ Jazz Masters Award, and the Charlie Parker Fellowship for jazz innovation. Bloom also has an asteroid named in her honor by the International Astronomical Union (asteroid 6083janeirabloom). She adjudicated the Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition, the BMI Jazz Workshop Composition Prize, and served on a distinguished panel of faculty composers at the new Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute at the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University.  Recipient of the Doris Duke New Jazz Works Award, and fellowships from the NEA, Rockefeller, Pew & Ford Foundations, she has performed, recorded, and/or collaborated with Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, Fred Hersch, George Coleman, Kenny Wheeler, Julian Priester, Rufus Reid, Mark Dresser, Bobby Previte, Matt Wilson, Jerry Granelli, Mark Helias, David Friedman, Jay Clayton and Cleo Laine. Her affinity for other art forms has led to collaborations with other innovative artists including dancer/ choreographer Carmen DeLavallade, comedian Lewis Black, lighting designer James F. Ingalls, and actor Vanessa Redgrave.  Her compositions and commissions include the American Composers Orchestra, St. Luke¹s Chamber Ensemble, Pilobolus & Paradigm Dance Companies, NY City Center's Fall for Dance Festival, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the NASA Art Program.  Her film credits include John Sayles's SILVER CITY, SHADOW OF A DOUBT for NBC-TV, and a short film on Jules Feiffer’s MODERN DANCER. She has produced and recorded for CBS, ENJA, JMT, Artistshare, Sono Luminus, Pure Audio and Arabesque Jazz Recordings in addition to her own Outline recording label. Bloom has performed in the most prestigious halls, clubs, and festivals around the world and continues to find inspiration merging her music with the world of arts and ideas.

Awards And Honors

2018 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album/ "Early Americans"
2019 Downbeat International Critics Poll for Soprano Saxophone
2019 Jazz Journalists Association Award for Soprano Saxophone