Musical improvisation looks so straightforward: Simply take your instrument and make something up. Timothy Murphy, Peab ’84 (MMA), says it’s not quite that simple. A keyboardist and Peabody Conservatory faculty member, Murphy also tours and records as a jazz musician who has practiced improvisation for years. He prefers to do so in a band. “Playing solo can be like talking to yourself in a grocery store,” he says. “I can do it, but I’d rather have the energy of other people to bounce off of.”

Illustrations by Wesley Bedrosian