Mazz Swift

Mazz Swift (violin and voice) is a composer, conductor, singer, bandleader, educator, and Juilliard-trained violinist, with improvisation as a thorough line in their practice across genres and instrumental configurations.

As violinist and singer, Swift is no stranger to most of the world’s greatest stages, including the Royal Albert Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Carnegie Hall, Müpa Budapest, David Geffen Hall, the Paris Philharmonie, and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. As composer, Swift’s works include commissions from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. As an educator, Swift has taught workshops in free improvisation and “conduction” (conducted improvisation) on six continents.

A 2021 United States Artist and 2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Swift continually creates orchestral compositions that involve conduction, small ensemble works, and solo works that are centered around protest and freedom songs, spirituals, and the Ghanaian concept of sankofa: looking back to learn how to move forward.