Golden City
2024-25 CAST Faculty Grant
An extended musical composition for Large Ensemble, inspired by California’s rich and complex history.
About
MIT presents the Boston-area premiere of Golden City by Grammy Award-winning alto saxophonist/composer and MIT faculty member Miguel Zenón. The sweeping extended composition for large ensemble is inspired by the demographic and political evolution of San Francisco, from the pre-colonial period to the contemporary tech-dominated era. The piece is performed by a world-class band featuring Zenón’s unparalleled saxophone, a formidable trombone-centric horn section, guitar, piano, bass, and percussion.
Described by reviewer Dan McClenaghan in All About Jazz as “a triumph… Miguel Zenón at his creative peak. A riveting listening experience,” Golden City was commissioned by SFJAZZ and the Hewlett Foundation. The inveterately curious Zenón embraced the assignment by delving into California’s history, “all the way back to the beginning with Native communities,” he says. “All the way back to when it was Mexico, and the Gold Rush, and the waves of Asian migration. I talked to about 50 individuals and came out the other side with a lot more information to feed the creative process.”
While Golden City isn’t programmatic, it’s a body of music deeply informed by the places and people Zenón visited. From the opening lines of “Sacred Land,” to the closing lines of “The Power of Community” and “Golden,” Zenón’s music takes the listener on a deep and powerful journey. As Tom Conrad wrote in Stereophile Magazine about the 2024 Grammy-nominated album of the same name, “Golden City defies easy categorization. If it is an ‘ethnic’” record, its ethnicity is the human race.”
Schedule
Upcoming Events
Masterclass: Dan Weiss (drums)
Thursday, March 13th / 1:00pm
MIT Killian Hall
160 Memorial Dr, Cambridge, MA 02139
Masterclass: Alan Ferber (trombone and composition)
Thursday, March 13th, 6pm
MIT Killian Hall
160 Memorial Dr, Cambridge, MA 02139
Masterclass: Miguel Zenón (Composition Talk on Golden City)
Friday, March 14th, 1:30pm
Lewis Music Library, Room 14E-109
160 Memorial Dr, Cambridge, MA 02139
Golden City
Friday, March 14, 2025 / 8:00pm
Thomas Tull Concert Hall (W18-1102), Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building (W18)
21 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA
Registration
Collaborators
Grammy® winner, Doris Duke Artist, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, Miguel Zenón is one of a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, Zenón has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between jazz and his many influences. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has released seventeen albums as a leader. He has worked with luminaries and organizations such as The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, David Sánchez, Danilo Perez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Kurt Elling, Joey Calderazzo, Steve Coleman, Ray Barreto, Andy Montañez, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, The Mingus Big Band, and Bobby Hutcherson. Zenón has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world and is a faculty member in the Music & Theater Arts Department at MIT, as well as the current Visiting Scholar for the Harmony and Jazz Composition Department at Berklee College of Music.
Bio: MIT MTA
Website: miguelzenon.com
Social: Instagram | Facebook | Youtube
Matt Mitchell is a pianist, composer, and electronic musician interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He has released several forward-thinking, critically acclaimed, and influential albums as a leader on Pi Recordings, Screwgun Records, and Out of Your Head Records, and together with Kate Gentile he runs Obliquity Records.
Website: mattmitchell.us
Miles Okazaki is a NYC-based guitarist and composer. His sideman experience over the last two decades covers a broad spectrum, from standards to experimental music. He has released nine albums of original compositions and received wide critical acclaim for his 2018 six-album recording of the complete compositions of Thelonious Monk for solo guitar.
Website: milesokazaki.com
Socials: Instagram | Youtube | X
Christopher Tordini is an in-demand bassist in the jazz and experimental music scene, touring and recording both nationally and internationally. He has performed and recorded with prominent bandleaders of today, and has led groups playing his music all around New York City for the past decade.
Socials: Instagram
Three-time Shifting Foundation grantee Dan Weiss has been hailed as one of the top five jazz drummers by The New York Times. His innovative drumming and forward-thinking compositions have been pushing musical limits for decades, and have brought multiple accolades. He has released 12 albums as a leader and has collaborated with some of the most recognized names in jazz.
Website: danweiss.net
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | X
Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, based in Brooklyn, NY, celebrated Latin Grammy Award-winning percussionist and composer Samuel Torres thrives at the intersection of Afro-Latin rhythms, Latin jazz, and contemporary classical music. “…intelligent, sophisticated and explosive.” – JazzTimes Magazine.
Website: samueltorres.com
Socials: Youtube | Instagram | Facebook
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, three-time Grammy nominee Diego Urcola is a highly sought-after trumpeter and valve trombonist. He performs regularly with some of the most well-recognized names in jazz and has released six albums as a leader.
Website: diegourcola.com
Socials: Youtube
Multiple GRAMMY-nominated/winning trombonist-composer-arranger Alan Ferber has been called “one of the jazz world’s premier composers and arrangers for larger groups” by All About Jazz NY. He has released nine albums as a bandleader and currently serves as the Associate Director of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in New York City, and teaches on the faculties of New York University and Montclair State University.
Website: alanferber.com
Socials: Instagram | Facebook | X
Jacob Garchik, multi-instrumentalist and composer, was born in San Francisco and has lived in New York since 1994. At home in a wide variety of styles and musical roles, he has worked with many luminaries of jazz and the avant-garde and has released six albums as a leader.
Website: jacobgarchik.com
Socials: Facebook | X | Youtube
Credits
Golden City is supported by a faculty grant from the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology and co-presented with MIT Music and Theater Arts.