Encounters and Collisions is a new work by Sara Serpa portraying episodes from her life since moving from Portugal to the US. It explores themes such as traveling, assimilation, identity, motherhood, loneliness and language and features Serpa’s long-time collaborators Ingrid Laubrock, Erik Friedlander and Angelica Sanchez.

“I think so many times about how we deal with change and loss. From moving to another country, to giving birth or grieving a loved one, my different reactions have often surprised me. And yet, life is change in itself. Sometimes drastic, most of the times subtle, we all go and move through constant change. We lose ourselves, countries, landscapes and cities, loved ones, thoughts and emotions. I wrote this music for someone else’s story only to realize I was writing my own story.” – Sara Serpa 

Sara Serpa voice/composition
Ingrid Laubrock saxophones
Angelica Sanchez piano
Erik Friedlander cello

A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing. Watch below or on YouTube.

A native from Lisboa, Portuguese Sara Serpa is a singer, composer, improviser, who through her practice and performance, explores the use of the voice as an instrument. Serpa has been working in the field of jazz, improvised and experimental music, since moving to New York in 2008. Literature, film, visual arts, nature and history inspire Serpa in the creative process and development of her music. Described by the New York Times as “a singer of silvery poise and cosmopolitan outlook,” and by the JazzTimes magazine as “a master of wordless landscapes,” Serpa started her recording and performing career with jazz luminaries such as Grammy-nominated pianist, Danilo Perez, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow pianist, Ran Blake, and Greg Osby. Her ethereal music draws from a broad variety of inspirations including literature, film, visual arts as well as history and nature. As a leader, she has produced and released eleven albums, the latest being Night Birds (2023), Intimate Strangers (2021) and Recognition (2020).

Ingrid Laubrock is an experimental saxophonist and composer, interested in exploring the borders between musical realms and creating multi-layered, dense and often evocative sound worlds. A prolific composer, Laubrock was named a “true visionary” by pianist and The Kennedy Center’s artistic director Jason Moran, and a “fully committed saxophonist and visionary” by the New Yorker. Her composition Vogelfrei was nominated ‘one of the best 25 Classical tracks of 2018’ by The New York Times. She worked with: Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richards Abrams, Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Jason Moran, Tim Berne, William Parker, Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, Andy Milne, Luc Ex, Django Bates’ Human Chain, The Continuum Ensemble, Wet Ink and many others. Awards include the BBC Jazz Award for Innovation in 2004, a Fellowship in Jazz Composition by the Arts Foundation in 2006, the 2009 SWR German Radio Jazz Prize, the 2014 German Record Critics Quarterly Award, Downbeat Annual Critics Poll Rising Star Soprano Saxophone (2015) , Rising Star Tenor Saxophone (2018) and Herb Alpert/Ragdale Prize in Composition 2021. Ingrid Laubrock has received composing commissions by The Fromm Music Foundation, BBC Glasgow Symphony orchestra, Bang on The Can, Grossman Ensemble, The Shifting Foundation, The Robert D. Bielecki Foundation, The Jerwood Foundation, American Composers Orchestra, Tricentric Foundation, SWR New Jazz Meeting, The Jazz Gallery Commissioning Series, NYSCA, Wet Ink, John Zorn’s Stone Commissioning Series and the EOS Orchestra.

Pianist/Composer/Educator Angelica Sanchez moved to New York from Arizona in 1994. Since moving to the East Coast Sanchez has collaborated with such notable artists as Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian, Richard Davis, Jamaladeen Tacuma, Nicole Mitchell, Rob Mazurek, Tim Berne, Mario Pavone, Ben Monder amongst others. Sanchez leads numerous groups, the most recent being her Trio which features Michael Formanek and Billy Hart.

Her music has been recognized in national and international publications including Jazz Times, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune amongst others. She was also the 2008 recipient of a French/American Chamber Music America grant, the 2011 Rockefeller Brothers Pocantico artist residency, and the 2021 Civitella Fellowship, Italy. Sanchez’s debut solo CD “A Little House” was featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition and her recording “Wires & Moss” featuring her Quintet was chosen as one of the best Releases of 2012 in “The New York City Jazz Record (formerly AllAboutJazz-New York).” Her recording “Twine Forest” a duo with Wadada Leo Smith received Honorable Mention as one of the best releases of 2013 in “The New York City Jazz Record.” Her latest trio project “Float The Edge” features Michael Formanek and Tyshawn Sorey and has garnered wide critical acclaim. Her new piano duo”How to Turn the Moon,” with Marilyn Crispell was voted as one of the top 50 best recordings in 2020, NPR critics poll. Her most recent recording “Sparkle Beings,” was chosen by The New York Times as one of the top ten Jazz recordings of 2022. Angelica Sanchez has a Masters Degree in Arranging from William Paterson University. She is currently on faculty at Bard College.

Cellist Erik Friedlander is a prolific solo artist, bandleader and film composer. Having been a sought after studio musician and improviser in New York’s downtown music scene for years, Friedlander has recently become well known for his work scoring film and television. He most recently scored the film Baby Ruby in 2022. In the fall of 2018, he scored an episode of Matthew Weiner’s (Mad Men) show The Romanoffs. In 2017, Friedlander composed the score for Thoroughbreds, a feature film directed by Cory Finley, which garnered critical acclaim. Also in 2017, he scored the film Oh Lucy!, directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Friedlander started studying music at an early age, beginning at five with guitar, before commencing cello lessons at eight. He grew up in a house filled with music, as his father, an avid music lover, made countless mixtapes which played daily in their home. He has performed and recorded with artists as diverse as The Mountain Goats, John Zorn, Dave Douglas and Courtney Love. Erik’s desire to actively participate in the swirl of musical styles he was surrounded by led him to find new ways of playing the cello. This discovery drives his solo work, and work as a composer, which is varied and unusual.