Anthony Coleman has been one of the key figures of New York music for four decades. His work bridges the gap between Composition and Improvisation, Uptown and Downtown, and spans a wide range of genres and practices including Free Improvisation, Jazz, Jewish music (of various types), and Contemporary Chamber Music.

Coleman immersed himself in New York City’s forward-thinking circle of genre- confounding composers and improvisers that would come to be known as the Downtown Scene. The first two records Coleman played on, Glenn Branca’s Lesson No. 1 and John Zorn’s Archery, are classics of a then-emerging avant - garde.

Balancing a powerful sense of structural logic and expressionistic color, Coleman has had a prolific career as a composer. His works have been commissioned by the Concert Artist Guild, the Ruhrtriennale, the Festival Banlieues Blues, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, among others. He has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, etc.