Wayne Lopes American Composer / Musician, Cofounder “Gift of Eagle Orchestra” and “Cosmiclegends” (music / theater group), “Renowned for his technical innovation and style, Wayne’s work is heavily inspired by the tactility of place. drawn from sounds suggesting specific time/place experiences, which he then uses to improvise primarily from memory and intuition. His aim is to distill the strongest impressions he has of a particular space and time into an Auditory journey representing the experience of that moment.
Born in New York City , Wayne went to Berklee College of music.
After which he returned to NYC under the encouragement of pianist Paul Bley, to work with‘Improvising Artist Inc’. During this time he had the chance to meet many of the artists on the IAI label, including Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Nana vasconcelos, Perry Robinson, and later Sylvie Degiez with whom he later went on to form The Gift of Eagle Orchestra along with guitarist Van Manakas. ‘Gift of Eagle’ was the beginning of a long flight of musical explorations leading to the formation of ‘Cosmic Legends’ A music theater group dedicated to the art of improvisation.
Years spent living in NYC were important in moving him toward more abstract forms and spontaneous sounds. Wayne studied with the world-reknown violinist Leroy Jenkins and occasional sessions with guitarist John Fahey where he focused on the use of alternate tunings. Wayne has also contributed to performances with Charles “Bobo” Shaw’ ‘The human arts Ensemble’ Judith Malina and Hanon Reznikov of ‘The living theater’, and with Ken Little Hawk and Andy 3 Raven with ‘Brothers of the Wind’
” A brilliant finger picker, there’s a ‘down home’ quality to Wayne ‘s work. While his playing at first appears very free and abstract, closer listening reveals a familiar interplay of melodies and patterns, His music is also not without the element of surprise. It always reveals something unexpected amongst something familiar, something that will linger in the mind of anyone who listens”. ‘AMERICAN PRIMITIVE’ GUITAR.
Wayne Lopes
I.A.T.S.E. Local 1
New York, NY.
waynelopes1@gmail.com
Our Time Nyc Berlin 
