A. Spencer Barefield

Composer/guitarist A. Spencer Barefield has toured and recorded extensively in the US, Canada, and Europe as bandleader and soloist. He has worked with numerous jazz greats, including Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Oliver Lake, Richard Davis, Andrew Cyrille, James Carter, Regina Carter, and others. His compositions have been commissioned by Meet the Composer: Commissioning Music/USA, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Arts Foundation of Michigan, Arts International, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has numerous recordings on international labels that have received rave reviews and international honors, awards and recognition. As director of Creative Arts Collective/Creative Music at the Detroit Institute of Arts, his concert series received the Governor’s Arts Award.