Bassoonist Dana Jessen (b. 1983) is a versatile musician with a concentration in contemporary and improvised music. Focused on expanding the role of the bassoon outside traditional settings, Dana has collaborated with composers, improvisers, visual artists, poets, filmmakers and chamber musicians around the world. Her strong ambitions to explore jazz and creative improvisation have led to performances with the Bik Bent Braam Ensemble, guitarist Joe Morris, reed players Michael Moore and Frank Gratkowski, and the Braam/de Joode/Vatcher Trio. She has performed at concert venues and music festivals throughout the United States and Europe including New York City’s The Stone, Berlin's Universität der Künste, Boston's Jordan Hall, Baltimore's Contemporary Museum, Amsterdam's World Minimal Music Festival, and the U.K.'s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
Dana's ongoing exploration and experimentation of new sound possibilities developed into a deep interest in composition. She has written acoustic and electroacoustic music, with a common element of improvisation. Her recent compositions, Storm Scenes for two soprano saxophones and sound samples and In Flux for bassoon, soprano saxophone and sound samples, include an electronic component that she created by recording her own sounds and layering them into an atmospheric backdrop. Playing the role of composer-performer, Dana continues to explore new performance techniques as a bassoonist while creating adventurous new ways to communicate with audiences through composition.
Dana is co-founder of the EAR (Electro Acoustic Reed) Duo. Along with saxophonist Michael Straus, the duo is dedicated to the performance of new, improvised and experimental electroacoustic music. Recently praised by the Boston Music Intelligencer for performing "with conviction and authenticity," the duo can regularly be seen presenting a variety of works ranging from new commissions written specifically for them, to original arrangements of works by Terry Riley, Steve Reich and James Tenney. Attempting to stretch the limits of duo performance, their concerts include aspects of theater coupled with visual and electronic media. Aside from performing on their respective instruments, the duo's repertoire has recently expanded to incorporate Tibetan singing bowls, squeaky toys, reusable/recyclable objects and more.
An active performer of new music, Dana has played with the Callithumpian Consort, Mobtown Modern, Harvard Group for New Music, and Anthony Coleman’s Retake Iowa. She has held orchestral positions in the United States and performed in orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. She has attended the Impuls Contemporary Music Festival in Graz, Austria along with the Sarasota, Brevard, and Colorado College Summer Music Festivals.
Dana holds a M.M. with academic honors from the New England Conservatory of Music and a B.M. from Louisiana State University. She is the recent recipient of a 2008 - 2009 J. William Fulbright Fellowship for studies in Amsterdam where she continues to make her home as an HSP Huygens Foundation Fellow.