The theater club will host a concert by the Roxy Coss Quintet

For more information on all shows, visit www.neaae.com

New York saxophonist Roxy Coss has become one of the most unique and innovative voices of her generation. The 2015 and 2014 Downbeat Critics polls rated her as a “Rising Star” on the soprano saxophone. She has performed in countries such as Spain, Denmark, Italy, Germany, France, Malta, Scotland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium; as well as throughout Canada and the United States.

The Roxy Coss Quintet performs throughout New York City, including venues such as The Side Door, Smalls, Zinc Bar, and Smoke Jazz Club, where the group had a weekly residency from 2012 to 2013. In addition to making a name for themselves as a leader, Coss is an active side-woman, best known for her work with the Jeremy Pelt Group. She has recorded on records for Pelt Face Forward, Jeremy (2014) and Water and Earth (2013), both HighNote Records. She has also performed alongside big names in jazz such as Clark Terry, Louis Hayes, Claudio Roditi, Mike LeDonne, Gerald Cannon and Willie Jones III; and is currently a member of Diva.

A native of Seattle, WA, Coss began playing the piano and composing at the age of 6, and began studying saxophone at the age of 9. She began studying jazz with Robert Knatt at Washington Middle School, and became principal tenor saxophone in the internationally renowned Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble under Clarence Acox. In 2008, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from William Paterson University in New Jersey with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies / Performance. There she studied saxophone with Gary Smulyan and Rich Perry, and composition with Rich DeRosa. She also studied privately with David Demsey, Armen Donelian and Bill Mobley. Coss also had the opportunity to work closely with Clark Terry, Harold Mabern and Mulgrew Miller.

In 2011, Coss was chosen to participate in the prestigious Jazz Ahead Residency Workshop at the Kennedy Center, where she studied with Nathan Davis, Curtis Fuller, Winard Harper, Carmen Lundy, George Cables and Chip Jackson. She was also chosen to participate in Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Jazz Program, where she worked closely with Rufus Reid, David Baker, Curtis Fuller and Nathan Davis.

In 2010, she released her self-titled debut album, Roxy Coss, which was critically acclaimed and ranked # 4 for 10 weeks at WJC, # 23 at Jazzweek, and # 12 on the RMR Jazz Chart in as the first artist. In 2009, Coss was commissioned as a composer by the Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company to write the score for Breaking, a full-length dance piece choreographed to order from the Holocaust Museum of NYC.

Coss has over 14 years of experience as a music teacher. She leads the Beacon High School Jazz Band in New York City and is also the East Coast Director of Vandoren’s new program, Generation Vandoren, which aims to engage young performing artists with music students. Coss is a frequent member of JazzReach, a program run by Hans Schuman that goes to schools and theaters across the country and does interactive performances with students of all ages. She will also be a teacher at this year’s New York Summer Music Festival. She has taught extensively in the past in private studios and was an assistant professor in the woodworking department at Ramapo High School in New Jersey from 2008-2011. She was also a faculty member at the Summer Jazz Camp in William Paterson University from 2008 to 2011. Coss founded and directed the Washington Middle School Summer Improv Workshop from 2005 to 2009.

Story contributed by New England Arts & Entertainment.