Jazz Poetry 2026: Spanish Pianist Marta Sánchez’s “For the Space You Left” & Poems by City of Asylum Writers-in-Residence
Jazz Poetry 2026 welcomes Marta Sánchez for a stunning solo-piano album release, with compositions inspired by themes of isolation and solitude, as well as intimate, improvisational poetry collaborations with four City of Asylum Writers-in-Residence.
Jazz Poetry 2026 at City of Asylum continues with Spanish pianist Marta Sánchez’s official album release concert!
During periods of isolation and solitude, Marta composed her album, For the Space You Left. Shaped by two very different emotional landscapes, the music began in 2017 during a residency at MacDowell, where Marta applied with the intention of experimenting with piano preparation and confronting one of her long-standing fears: playing solo piano.
On her inspiration and composition of the album, Marta shared, “I had always been uncomfortable exposing myself alone at the instrument, and creating a solo project felt like the most direct way to face that fear and grow through it. At the time, I was interested in translating my compositional language—built around layers, interlocking rhythms, and counterpoint—into a single timbre. Preparation became the solution: by altering the piano’s sound, I could create multiple internal voices, transforming one instrument into a small ecosystem of contrasting textures.”
Her time at MacDowell was an intense and solitary experience, living alone in a remote cabin, surrounded by woods and snowstorms, often spending entire days without seeing anyone. That isolation, combined with a sense of vulnerability and self-doubt, deeply informed the music written there. The pieces from that period carry a quiet melancholy, fragility, and a raw openness which comes to life in this album’s live performance.
In addition to celebrating the release of Marta’s album, this Jazz Poetry performance will feature collaborative, experimental performances with City of Asylum Exiled Writers-in-Residence Olena Boryshpolets, Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko, and Mukhtar Shehata.
During periods of isolation and solitude, Marta composed her album, For the Space You Left. Shaped by two very different emotional landscapes, the music began in 2017 during a residency at MacDowell, where Marta applied with the intention of experimenting with piano preparation and confronting one of her long-standing fears: playing solo piano.
On her inspiration and composition of the album, Marta shared, “I had always been uncomfortable exposing myself alone at the instrument, and creating a solo project felt like the most direct way to face that fear and grow through it. At the time, I was interested in translating my compositional language—built around layers, interlocking rhythms, and counterpoint—into a single timbre. Preparation became the solution: by altering the piano’s sound, I could create multiple internal voices, transforming one instrument into a small ecosystem of contrasting textures.”
Her time at MacDowell was an intense and solitary experience, living alone in a remote cabin, surrounded by woods and snowstorms, often spending entire days without seeing anyone. That isolation, combined with a sense of vulnerability and self-doubt, deeply informed the music written there. The pieces from that period carry a quiet melancholy, fragility, and a raw openness which comes to life in this album’s live performance.
In addition to celebrating the release of Marta’s album, this Jazz Poetry performance will feature collaborative, experimental performances with City of Asylum Exiled Writers-in-Residence Olena Boryshpolets, Oleksandr Frazé-Frazénko, and Mukhtar Shehata.
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