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This year's Chicago Jazz String Summit was co-curated by cellists Tomeka Reid, Lester St. Louis and violinist Melanie Dyer.

website photos by
Michael Jackson

FRIDAY, MAY 8
CONSTELLATION

3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL
$20 advance / $25 at door

» GET TICKETS

7pm Doors / 8pm Show

Set 1: Zosha Warpeha / Carlo Costa
Set 2: Ayman Asfour / Marwan Allam /‍ ‍Eric Allen
Set 3: Laura Ortman

Zosha Warpeha opens the summit with a meditative, searching approach to the Hardanger d’amore—a variant of the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle—joined by percussionist Carlo Costa. Equally at home with folk melodies and improvisation, the duo crafts slow-moving, expansive textures that push the sonic boundaries of their instruments.

The trio of violinist Ayman Asfour, bassist Marwan Allam, and cellist Eric Allen pursue modern takes on Arabic maqam, using jazz and free improvisation to inject their personal styles into familiar traditions.

A solo performance by violinist Laura Ortman closes the first night. Known for using effects and amplification to create massive layered textures, Ortman also explores her Indigenous heritage on the ethereal one stringed Apache violin.

SATURDAY, MAY 9th
CONSTELLATION

3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL
$20 advance/$25 door

» GET TICKETS

7pm Doors / 8pm Show

Set 1: Theresa Wong
Set 2: Indira Edwards / King Sophia
Set 3: Carla Kihlstedt

Theresa Wong performs solo cello, examining the instrument through a naturalist’s lens and exploding out its basic components of wood, string, and hair to develop new playing techniques.

Each year CJSS aims to highlight young musicians and is excited to welcome the Detroit based duo Ataraxia, featuring violist Indira Edwards and cellist King Sophia.

Carla Kihlstedt, the genre crossing songwriter and improviserperforms solo violin and voice to conclude the performances at Constellation.

SUNDAY, MAY 10th
HUNGRY BRAIN

7pm Doors / 8pm Show

Improv jam session featuring current and past CJSS string participants.

2319 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60618

» No Advance Tickets

2026 CJSS HONOREE
TRISTAN HONSINGER

CJSS dedicates this year’s program to cellist Tristan Honsinger, who helped develop the free improv scene in Amsterdam in the 1970s, and is known for his work with Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey, and the ICP Orchestra.

Originally from Burlington, VT, in 1974, Honsinger relocated to Europe where he spent the bulk of his career working in the Netherlands, Italy and Germany primarily. While in Amsterdam, he was an important member of the longstanding Instant Composers Pool where he worked extensively with Han Bennink, Mary Oliver, Misha Mengelberg and Sean Bergin.

Tristan’s Obituary on The Guardian