Ernest Dawkins is one of the world’s premiere saxophonists and composers, whose life goal is for his music and compositions to reflect the evolving collective cultural memory of the African American jazz aesthetic. He is the founder and executive director of Live the Spirit Residency and past Chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

Dawkin’s is the leader and founder of several ensembles, most notably the New Horizons Ensemble, Aesop Quartet, Chicago Trio, Live the Spirit Big Band, and the Chicago 12. Dawkins has recorded numerous CDs and his publishing company, Dawk Music, has seventeen releases to date. Dawkins was named ‘Chicagoan of the Year’ twice by the Chicago Tribune, most recently in 2001. He received a Meet the Composers Round VII New Residencies grant in 2000 and has been awarded the State of Illinois Governors Fellowship award twice. Dawkins has worked alongside many pioneering musicians including Ramsey Lewis, Muhal Richard Abrams, Vijay Iyer, Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, Amina Claudine Myers, and Anthony Braxton, while also committing himself to uplifting and mentoring the next generations of young artists in Chicago and beyond, connecting tradition and history to the urgency of the present moment. Recent projects include a commission from New Music America in 2020 to compose his work “Redefining Fredrick Douglass.”