Nora Stanley is a New York-based saxophonist and composer whose work lives at the intersection of composed and improvised music. With roots in the jazz, folk, and rock traditions, Stanley's music emphasizes interaction and collaboration and draws from various influences across genres and artistic mediums.
She leads a quartet featuring her original compositions and co-leads a duo project with keyboardist Benny Bock, exploring sounds both acoustic and electric. The duo is slated to release their debut record on Colorfield Records in 2023. She is currently working on original compositions for her first quartet record.
During her stay at MacDowell, Stanley undertook work on a collection of arrangements and compositions based on the music of Joe Henderson for a commission by SFJAZZ to be played by her quintet at the Joe Henderson Festival in San Francisco. She also made headway on a new set of solo saxophone compositions, investigating and studying various techniques for idea generation and development and drawing inspiration from work by Virginia Woolf, the Bulgarian Female Choir, and Joe Henderson, among others.
