TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Philanthropic Services provided by grants from the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust, The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's ArtsEverywhere initiative, and the Arts Project Support Grant and Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.

Michael Hudson-Casanova - saxophones

Erik Skov - guitar

Gustavo Cortiñas - drums

Michael Hudson-Casanova is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and educator originally from Sterling Heights, MI and currently residing in Chicago. He holds degrees from Western Michigan University and Temple University in jazz studies and music education, and has been working professionally in a variety of musical settings since 2010.

Hudson-Casanova is a member of the American Composer’s Forum, and a recipient of several grants and scholarships for his music. He teaches for celebrated institutions like Common Time Music School, and has given clinics and performances at Mott Community College and various higher leaning institutions. He has studied closely with Andrew Rathbun, Edward Simon, Dick Oatts, Ben Schachter and Norman David, and shared the stage with Fred Hersch, Billy Hart, and Miguel Zenon.

Hudson-Casanova released his debut album as leader, Echoes of Thought, in 2021. He has also released interdisciplinary works involving his original music, dance, and multimedia.

Erik Skov is a jazz guitarist, educator, and composer working in the Chicago area. As a graduate of North Central College (BA in Jazz Studies, minor in Anthropology, 2011) and Northwestern University (M.M. in Jazz Studies, 2015), Skov has established himself as an up-and-coming new voice for jazz guitar. An experienced performer on guitar, as well as banjo, Skov has been able to work professionally with top musicians and composers in the jazz and classical worlds. Skov’s most recent project, Liminality, is a six-piece jazz ensemble that features saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, trumpeter Emily Kuhn, trombonist Euan Edmonds, bassist Kitt Lyles, and drummer Gustavo Cortinas. The ensemble’s name, Liminality, comes from the anthropological term relating to the middle stages of a ritual or rite. In this stage, the participants have left their previous state and have begun a transformative process that will lead to the desired rewards. Skov’s album aims to celebrate music as the state of liminality, a lifelong musical process aimed at connecting and communicating with others.

A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans (BM Jazz, Minor in Philosophy), and Northwestern University (MM Jazz), Gustavo Cortiñas has developed a successful career in the US for over a decade, leading and accompanying ensembles in renowned stages and festivals in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. “Cortiñas' music is uplifting, robust, melodic, and gets your body moving; it's an exciting blend of the artist's musical influences from jazz and Latin America, including his native Mexico" (DOWNBEAT). This can be heard on his records as a leader, "Snapshot" (2013), "a Smörgåsbord of the moods and nuances that make up the human experience... an idiosyncratic album that intrinsically fuses the personal to the universal" (JAZZIZ); and "ESSE" (Origin Arts 2017): "With the cohesive and captivating Esse, Cortiñas has created superb work that balances refreshingly inventive ideas with high-caliber musicianship. This exquisite and continuously gripping record is a testament to Cortiñas’ triple threat of skills as dynamic performer, agile bandleader and brilliant composer." (Chicago Jazz). Out on Woolgathering Records (2021), “Gustavo Cortiñas’ third release as a leader, the magnificent Desafio Candente is an ambitious work both in depth and breadth. Cortiñas draws inspiration from Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano’s iconic “The Open Veins of Latin America” in crafting 14 sublime originals. Desafío Candente is innovative, elegant, and relevant. It is socially engaged music with themes that are simultaneously timely and timeless” (Chicago Jazz Mag). During his time in Chicago, Gustavo has become one of the most sought out drummers, performing and recording with Kitt Lyles, Erik Skov, Imagery Converter, Emily Kuhn, Roy McGrath, Kyle Madsen, and the Carla Campopiano Trio, among other ensembles. Cortiñas is a member of the Chicago Jazz Composer’s Collective, performing regularly for their monthly residency at Chicago’s very own Green Mill. Currently, with a grant from the Mexican National Endowment of the Arts (FONCA), Gustavo is working on his fourth project as a leader: Kind Regards, which features original songs composed of both lyrics and music by Cortiñas, which attempt to bridge gaps and community in today’s polarized world. Gustavo Cortiñas is a proud endorser of Canopus Drums & Bosphorus Cymbals.