Coltrane 100 – Invocations: Calling Upon the Spirit of John Coltrane with William Parker

As part of the celebration of the centennial of John Coltrane’s birth, Ars Nova Workshop welcomes bassist, composer, poet, and bandleader William Parker for a special invocation ceremony at Monument in Waiting, calling upon the spirit of John Coltrane through music, poetry, ritual, and collective remembrance.

Created by artist Theaster Gates, Monument in Waiting is a space for gathering, contemplation, and the honoring of histories still being written. For COLTRANE 100, Parker activates the monument as a site of remembrance and possibility—an invitation to consider Coltrane not simply as a towering figure of the past, but as a living presence whose pursuit of spiritual transformation, freedom, and human connection continues to resonate across generations.

One of the great creative musicians and thinkers of our time, Parker has long approached music as a vehicle for healing, community, and spiritual inquiry. Here, he gathers us not for a conventional concert, but for an invocation: a communal act of listening and reflection dedicated to Coltrane’s life, his searching spirit, and the possibilities his music continues to open one hundred years after his birth.