Nessa Glen

American multi-instrumentalist (keyboards/woodwinds), composer, arranger, producer and author born in Potsdam, New York. Moved to the UK in the 1970s. Formerly known as Jon Gillaspie. From Virtual Wind Chimes CD: 'Nessa Glen MA, studied piano and composition with Leah Haywood Haynes, and later, bassoon with Dr Robert Reinert. While still in her teens she was regularly performing as both a soloist and accompanist. She took part in masterclasses with Vincent Persichetti (orchestration), Lukas Foss (composition) and Sir Gerald Moore (accompanying). Feeling a need to broaden her horizons beyond music, she took degrees in Social Anthropology and Folklore-Folklife Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She was a founder member of the Philadelphia Baroque Trio, performed in concerts of modern music, and worked as a session musician. Summers were spent on archaeological sites in England and, having fallen in love with the country, she emigrated after graduate studies. Since then Nessa has pursued successful careers in music as a performer, arranger and producer, and in musicology. She has composed concert works as well as music for television and radio, and was one of the first to revive the classical Harmoniemusik style of arranging for wind ensembles. Recent commissions include works for the Collegium Viennense (Haydn Festspiele, Eisenstadt) and the Ensemble Philidor. The premiere of her Sinfonia folklorica is scheduled for 1999. She has published several books and also prepared many editions of music from the period 1780-1840. As a result of her research into the classical/jazz interface in 1920s Prague, a CD of her piano interpretations will soon be released. She regards being transgender as largely irrelevant to her music.'