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 Nonet which features Chris Speed, Michael Attias, Thomas Heberer, Kenny Warren, Ben Goldberg, John Hebert, Omar Tamez, and Sam Ospavot.

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 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.

Angelica Sanchez has a Masters Degree in Arranging from William Paterson University. She is currently on faculty at Bard College.

Wadada Leo Smith is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. For five decades he has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Smith’s notational system for improvisation in an ensemble context, which he calls Ankhrasmation, has been critical to his music and work as an educator and ensemble leader. His music philosophy is detailed in his book notes (8 pieces), source a new world music: creative music, first published in 1973. From 1994–2013, Smith was on the faculty of the Herb Alpert School of Music at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Santa Clarita, where he was the director of the African American Improvisational Music program. He earned an honorary doctorate from CalArts, where he was also celebrated as Faculty Emeritus. Smith’s honors include the Mohn Career Achievement Award for Made in L.A. 2016 at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and a Doris Duke Artist Award (2016); he was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music (2013). In 2017 DownBeat magazine’s 65th Annual Critics Poll placed him first in the categories of Jazz Artist, Trumpet, and Jazz Album (America’s National Parks).