Gwen Marie Laster is an award winning creative violin player and conceptual composer. Her devotion to exploring creative writings, readings, spirituality and current events inspire adventurous compositions rooted in the African Diaspora and other Global cultures. Being born and reared in Detroits’ community of jazz educators and artists inside the constructs of traditional classical training created the pathway to her broad aesthetic expression. Laster conveys her art through her “alternative chamber ensemble” New Muse 4tet who play new and original works for social activism, her fusion global ensemble Gameboard and her mixed media work “Is My Black Still Beautiful: Reflections on a Childhood in Detroit” (2026).
.As a socially conscious activist and educator who understands the power of music to reach and touch everyday people, she is the founder of Creative Strings Improvisers Ensemble. Here she creates programs which promote self expression through improvisation. Her sensitivity to global music informs her workshops and master classes across the U.S. As an adjunct faculty professor in the Jazz department at Bard College, she teaches private violin lessons and the Alternative Improvising String Ensemble course.
As a soloist, bandleader and improviser, she has performed in Europe, the Caribbean and the U.S. since the early 2000’s. Her commissions include Arts Mid Hudson, Composers NOW and Mutual Mentorship for Musicians. She’s a 2025 Guggenheim fellow and recipient of the NEA/ Jazz Fellowship, Chamber Music America, MPower Sphinx, Jubilation Foundation, Arts Mid Hudson, Puffin Foundation and the Mutual Mentorship for Musicians. Writings include “Is My Black Still Beautiful” (M3) Anthology 5, “Parallel Lives: Suzuki and the Art of Improvisation and Jazz”; The Suzuki Journal and “Music for the Creative String Player” method book. She holds two degrees in music from the University of Michigan and has lived in New York for many years. Laster’s music is available at Bandcamp and other digital media sources. Her recordings as a leader are Sneak Preview, I Hear You Smiling, Gameboard, Blue Lotus and Keepers of the Flame.
