About Us

Hesterian Musicism

Karlton E. Hester

Musical Director

Hesterian Musicism is the creative process through which Karlton Hester's compositional and performance style merge to give rise to aesthetic environments where other musicians, kinetic and visual artists, and poets can meet to produce new art forms through imaginative effort. Its philosophical basis involves an intrinsic freedom of expression, focused and disciplined spontaneity, and a structural basis that explores the creative components of diverse sources from the whole earth.

Contemporary TransAfrican Experiments create ways in which to search for universal musical concepts that can be examined for their inherent capabilities as commonage. Such examinations might inspire solutions to our differences in world society. Learning a variety of ways to achieve abstract balance, aesthetic satisfaction, harmony, contrast, and effective modes of artistic expression may produce means to communicate more clearly with others in our global community.

Collaboration is an important aspect of Hesterian Musicism on all levels of engagement. Inspiration, source materials, thematic resources, timbral imprints, and spiritual influence can be derived from multidisciplinary aspects from any region of the world, and can involve any combination of artistic traditions. It is the individual skill and imagination through which artistic components are explored and developed, demonstrating that past traditions are stepping stones to future creations, not ends in themselves.

Synergetic experimentation can reveal that artists with diverse perspectives on creative evolution, aesthetic values, and style can find common modes of expression. These modes of compatibility and cooperation can enhance ecumenical elements of aural, visual, and oral language, and interdisciplinary collaboration, elevating art beyond narrow stylistic or technical limits that too often dominate socio-cultural discussion.

Sixth Sense

Karlton E. Hester (Musical Director, flutes, saxophones, composer)

Composer and performer Karlton Hester's work is often ecumenical and interdisciplinary. He integrates Global African music with various elements from other regions of the world in premeditated and spontaneous compositions, electro-acoustic composition, and other interdisciplinary projects. Hester's work on African polyrhythm and his dissertation on the music of John Coltrane, with analytic focus on Coltrane's late period, serve as the basis for a freedom of expression that defines his musical approach.

As the Gussman Director of Jazz Studies at Cornell University, he collaborated with Dr. Donald Byrd in exploring connections between musical and mathematical symbols, structural patterns, and intuition. His ongoing goal remains focused on creating music that reflects salient features of traditional and contemporary modes of Afrocentric cultural expression and world society.

One current project involves completing a book that summarizes this theoretical approach. His publication, From Africa to Afrocentric Innovations Some Call "Jazz" (2000), provides historical background for his work as a composer.

Across recordings of his own compositions, he performs on flute, piccolo, and saxophone with new compositions and arrangements. Hester has received grants and honors including the National Endowment for the Arts (1985, 1989), ASCAP Standard Awards (1985-1998), the George and Elza Howard Foundation (1996), Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions (1994, 1995), William Grant Still Memorial Commissioning Project, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at Cornell University (1991-1992), New England Council for the Arts (1986), Staten Island Council on the Arts (1987, 1990, 1991), The Yard Dance Company, and others.

Hester is Director of Jazz Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and has served on the Board of Directors of the African American Jazz Caucus (International Association of Jazz Educators), chairing curriculum development with emphasis on African-American and multicultural music education. More information: www.aainnovators.com