Flautist and composer Nicole Mitchell was the first woman president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and has been a member since 1995. She is currently a professor of music at the University of California, Irvine, where she teaches in a new MA/PhD programme called Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology. Her group Black Earth Ensemble is a musical celebration of the African-American cultural legacy. As a woman-led, co-ed, multi-generational group, BEE “aims to reach a range of emotional spaces rarely expressed in a traditional jazz setting”.

nicolemitchell.bandcamp.com, thirdworldpressfoundation.com