Biography
Mexican-born vibraphonist, marimbist, and composer Patricia Brennan has built a reputation for a harmonically intricate style that fuses post-bop, classical, and avant-garde jazz. Notice first came her way during the 2010s through her work alongside John Hollenbeck and Michael Formanek, while additional collaborations have placed her with Meredith Monk, Vijay Iyer, and Tomas Fujiwara. Her first album under her own name, Maquishti, appeared in 2021.
Born in Veracruz, Brennan encountered a wide range of sounds in her youth, among them classic rock, Latin, and salsa releases. Percussion and piano entered her life near age four, sparked by her grandmother’s career as a concert pianist. At seventeen she earned admission to the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, an experience that included performances with Yo-Yo Ma and Paquita D'Rivera. Before finishing high school she had already claimed several marimba competition victories and appeared with the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra and Mineria Symphony Orchestra. After relocating to the United States in the early 2000s she refined her technique at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with conductors Simon Rattle and Charles Dutoit and performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Once she graduated, Brennan established herself on the East Coast, collaborating with Meredith Monk, Theo Bleckmann, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jon Irabagon, Mary Halvorson, and numerous others.
Brennan maintains an active performing schedule while teaching at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and in the Jazz Studies program at NYU Steinhardt. She belongs to the Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus, heard on the 2016 release The Distance, and to the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, which recorded the Grammy-nominated All Can Work in 2018. Additional work has included engagements with Matt Mitchell’s Phalanx Ambassadors, the Webber/Morris Big Band, and Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio alongside cellist Tomeka Reid, plus projects involving Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, Wadada Leo Smith, and Reggie Workman. Brennan introduced her solo vibraphone debut, Maquishti, in 2021.
Born in Veracruz, Brennan encountered a wide range of sounds in her youth, among them classic rock, Latin, and salsa releases. Percussion and piano entered her life near age four, sparked by her grandmother’s career as a concert pianist. At seventeen she earned admission to the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, an experience that included performances with Yo-Yo Ma and Paquita D'Rivera. Before finishing high school she had already claimed several marimba competition victories and appeared with the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra and Mineria Symphony Orchestra. After relocating to the United States in the early 2000s she refined her technique at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with conductors Simon Rattle and Charles Dutoit and performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Once she graduated, Brennan established herself on the East Coast, collaborating with Meredith Monk, Theo Bleckmann, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jon Irabagon, Mary Halvorson, and numerous others.
Brennan maintains an active performing schedule while teaching at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and in the Jazz Studies program at NYU Steinhardt. She belongs to the Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus, heard on the 2016 release The Distance, and to the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble, which recorded the Grammy-nominated All Can Work in 2018. Additional work has included engagements with Matt Mitchell’s Phalanx Ambassadors, the Webber/Morris Big Band, and Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio alongside cellist Tomeka Reid, plus projects involving Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, Wadada Leo Smith, and Reggie Workman. Brennan introduced her solo vibraphone debut, Maquishti, in 2021.
Albums
Singles
