Westerlies Fest 2021: ChamberQUEER

Danielle Buonaiuto, soprano
Brian Mummert, baritone
Jules Biber, cello
Mazz Swift, violin & voice
Andrew Yee, cello
Kevin Devine, keyboard
Riley Mulherkar, trumpet
Chloe Rowlands, trumpet
Andy Clausen, trombone
Willem de Koch, trombone

The final evening of Westerlies Fest features an incredible lineup of musicians curated by ChamberQUEER, an LGBTQ+ chamber music series based in Brooklyn, NY. The program will include pre-recorded performances by soprano Danielle Buonaiuto, baritone Brian Mummert, cellist Jules Biber, violin/vox/freestyle composition artist Mazz Swift, cellist Andrew Yee, and keyboardist Kevin Devine, produced exclusively for Westerlies Fest.

The Westerlies will premiere Calling Me Back Home, a brand new piece written for the ensemble by Kalia Vandever, commissioned for Westerlies Fest 2021.

About the Fest: Combining collaborative evening performances and new commissions with in-school concerts and a free community music workshop, Seattle-bred, New York-based brass quartet The Westerlies created Westerlies Fest in 2018 to engage students and audiences in Seattle and give back to the city that raised them.

Nightly performances on YouTube will feature The Westerlies and an eclectic lineup of guest artists and collaborators including Michael Mayo, Margaux Bouchegnies, Morgan Henderson, and ChamberQUEER.

The broadcast will take place at 7pm Pacific.

Watch the broadcast here

Want more access? Join the Besterlies Club for nightly pre-concert discussions with The Westerlies. More info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/westerlies-fest-2021-besterlies-club-tickets-136367002375

This event is FREE thanks to generous support from people like you. If you're interested in making a donation to make the music happen, please visit www.westerliesfest.org/support.

About ChamberQUEER

ChamberQUEER highlights LGBTQ+ voices in classical music; creates intersectionally inclusive spaces; and applies a queer lens to the experience of classical music in the 21st Century.

About The Westerlies

The Westerlies, "an arty quartet...mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk" (The New York Times) are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of childhood friends from Seattle: Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet, and Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch on trombone. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.

Formed in 2011, the self-described "accidental brass quartet" takes its name from the prevailing winds that travel from the West to the East. "Skilled interpreters who are also adept improvisers" (NPR's Fresh Air), The Westerlies explore jazz, roots, and chamber music influences to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both "folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous" (NPR Music).