The Poetry Project

Amirtha Kidambi

Amirtha Kidambi is featured centered in a portrait-formatted photograph, looking off to the left side of the photograph. She is wearing a floral dress and has shoulder-length hair. Behind her is a grassy landscape resembling a park. The photograph is suffuse with bright sun.

Amirtha Kidambi is invested in the creation and performance of subversive music, from free improvisation and avant-jazz, to experimental bands and new music. She is an educator, activist and organizer, informed by anti-racism, decolonization and anti-capitalism. As a bandleader, she is the creative force behind Elder Ones and has received critical praise from the New York Times, Pitchfork, Downbeat and WIRE magazine. Kidambi is a key collaborator in Mary Halvorson's latest sextet Code Girl, the duo Angels & Demons with Darius Jones, a duo with Luke Stewart and in various collaborations with William Parker. She has also had the honor of working with the late composers Muhal Richard Abrams and Robert Ashley.