LONG BIO

Nora Stanley is an improviser and composer based in Brooklyn, New York. Stanley primarily uses alto and tenor saxophones, flute, clarinet and synthesizer. Her work most often lives at the intersection of composed and improvised music, drawing from influences spanning jazz, folk, rock, the avant-garde and various global music traditions. Stanley’s music emphasizes collaboration and interaction with a sound that is melody-driven and seeks to explore harmonic, dynamic and textural possibilities beyond the confines of genre. She leads a quartet featuring her original compositions and co-leads Playground, a duo with drummer Jon Starks. Stanley is also one half of a duo with Los Angeles-based pianist/electronic artist Benny Bock. Their debut record, Distance of the Moon, was released in 2023 on Colorfield Records to acclaim from the New York Times, Fader and Downbeat Magazine. Stanley often works with indie bands and singer-songwriters and has performed and toured with Caroline Rose, The New Pornographers, and Beth Orton. She has also appeared on recordings alongside Jeff Parker, Mark Giuliana and Jerry Gonzalez. An avid composer as well, Stanley has written commissions for New Music ensemble Ictus Novus among others. Stanley rounds out her musical activities as a member of the Brooklyn-based Balinese Gamelan Dharma Swara.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Stanley holds a B.A. and a B.M. from Oberlin College and Conservatory where she studied with Gary Bartz, Eddie Henderson and Dan Wall. In 2023 she was a fellow at the MacDowell Arts Residency and in 2024 she received the Norton Stevens Fellowship award. Stanley has studied and performed internationally in Spain, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.