Profile

Berkeley-based composer, bassist, improviser, and producer Lisa Mezzacappa has been an active part of California’s vibrant music community for nearly 20 years. Her activities as a composer and ensemble leader include ethereal chamber music, electro-acoustic works, adventurous jazz, non-traditional opera, music for groups from duo to large ensemble, and collaborations with film, dance, and visual art. 

Recent projects include Cosmicomics, a suite for electro-acoustic jazz sextet based on Italo Calvino’s stories about the origins of the cosmos; Organelle, a chamber work for improvisers grounded in scientific processes on micro and cosmic scales; Glorious Ravage, an evening-length song cycle for large ensemble and films drawn from the writings of Victorian lady adventurers; and Touch Bass, a collaboration with choreographer Risa Jaroslow for three dancers and three bassists. She also co-leads a community improvisation ensemble, the duo B. Experimental Band, with drummer Jason Levis and is collaborating with writer Beth Lisick on the serial audio opera The Electronic Lover. lisamezzacappa.com

Andy Jaffe

Core Faculty, MFA in Music Composition

Lisa Mezzacappa

Core Faculty, MFA in Music Composition

Ravi Krishnaswami

Faculty, MFA in Music Composition

Roger Zahab

Faculty Co-Chair, MFA in Music Composition

John Fitz Rogers

Core Faculty, MFA in Music Composition

Rick Baitz

Core Faculty, MFA in Music Composition