About Us
Esthesis Quartet plays original music with a reckless abandon that shakes the preconceptions of traditional instrumentation roles.
The group approaches collaboration with understanding, respect, and a brave commitment to spontaneity and sonic exploration.
Esthesis, by definition, means elementary sensations of touch.
Dawn Clement
/ dôn,dän /
Denver based pianist Dawn Clement has established herself as one of the most sought-after musicians working today. With her joyful presence, consummate technique and distinctive sound, Clement has gained the attention and respect of musicians, critics, and fans throughout the U.S. and abroad. She holds the role of Assistant Professor and Area Coordinator of the Jazz and American Music Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is the recipient of the Chamber Music America Performance Plus Grant for Esthesis Quartet to work with Bill Frisell.
Elsa Nilsson
/ el-suh /
Originally from Gothenburg, Sweden, flutist Elsa Nilsson is now based in New York City where she performs regularly at various established venues and is an adjunct professor at The New School. Paul Rauch of All About Jazz has said about her: “She is the logical choice to provide a next step for her instrument in the world of jazz and improvised music.” She is the recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant for “Pulses”, a piece exploring the intersection between spoken word and jazz phrasing, and the winner of the National Flute Association 2018 Jazz Flute Competition.
Emma Dayhuff
/ em-uh /
Bassist Emma Dayhuff is the most recent bassist to graduate from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance and is the fifth woman to ever participate in the prestigious program. She currently resides in Chicago where she is pursuing a DMA at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Tina Raymond
/ ˈti:nə /
Los Angeles drummer Tina Raymond is currently an Assistant Professor and the Director of Jazz Studies at California State University, Northridge. A unique voice in the Los Angeles contemporary improvised music scene, Raymond blends traditional jazz vocabulary with African polyrhythm and classical percussion techniques.
