The Community School of Music and Arts and Taylor Eigsti

“Imagine Our Future,” a jazz composition crowdsourced from Bay Area students

The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) is commissioning two-time GRAMMY-nominated jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti to create a 45-minute work for piano and ensemble.

At age six, Eigsti began taking jazz piano lessons at CSMA. By age twelve, he performed for President Clinton alongside Dave Brubeck. At age 15, he began teaching at Stanford Jazz Workshop. Now a seasoned instrumentalist and composer living in New York City, Eigsti will engage young people in a “social composition” process drawing on their words, sounds, images and colors for musical inspiration.

Local students will be invited to submit ideas for “Imagine our Future” – a composition affirming that creativity and imagination are essential to shaping tomorrow’s world. Eigsti will integrate student contributions to develop a cohesive musical storyline. He will hold masterclasses at CSMA in 2019 and work with local student videographers to create a documentary about the project. The completed work is scheduled to premiere in April 2020.