Gwen Marie Laster is an award winning creative violin player and conceptual composer. Her devotion to exploring creative writings, readings, spirituality and current events inspire adventurous  compositions rooted in the African Diaspora and other Global cultures. Being born and reared in Detroits' community of jazz educators and artists inside the constructs of traditional classical training created the pathway to her broad aesthetic expression. Laster conveys her art through New Muse 4tet who play new and original works as a vehicle for social activism, her fusion global ensemble Gameboard and her mixed media work "Is My Black Still Beautiful: Reflections on a Childhood in Detroit". 

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As a socially conscious activist and educator who understands the power of music to reach and touch everyday people, she is the founder of Creative Strings Improvisers Ensemble. Here she creates programs which promote self expression through improvisation. Her sensitivity to global music informs her workshops and master classes across the U.S. As an adjunct faculty professor in the Jazz department at Bard College, she teaches private jazz and improvising violin lessons and the Alternative Strings Improvising Ensemble course.