The Westerlies, a Grammy-nominated, New York-based brass quartet, will be the featured performer at the NMU Jazz Festival. The group will present the festival's opening concert, which also serves as a Siril Concert Series event, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19, in Reynolds Recital Hall. The quartet will also join NMU's Jazz Band and Jazz Combo for the closing concert on Friday, March 20, at the same time and location.
In addition to the performances, The Westerlies will lead two guest artist clinics at 1 p.m. both days. These masterclasses are free and open to the public.
The Westerlies quartet is composed of Chloe Rowlands and Riley Mulherkar on trumpet, and Addison Maye-Saxon and Andy Clausen on trombone. Their music mixes jazz, new classical and Appalachian folk. Across multiple critically acclaimed studio albums, the Westerlies have earned what DownBeat described as “a unique reputation for exploring the emotional textures of American music,” championing living composers and collaborators.
They have also played in studio and live alongside artists from Common to Haley Heynderickx, and on Grammy-nominated releases from both Fleet Foxes and Aoife O'Donovan. Learn more about The Westerlies here.
Registered high school and middle school bands will perform in scheduled time slots, receive feedback, work with festival clinicians and participate in jam sessions both days. Tickets for each evening concert during the festival are $12 for general admission and free for NMU students and those under 18. They can be purchased at the door or in advance at tickets.nmu.edu.
NMU has presented numerous jazz clinics and concerts over the last 50 years, but the current NMU Jazz Festival officially began in 1998, when the NMU Friends of Jazz invited legendary trumpeter Clark Terry to perform with the NMU Jazz Band. Local high school bands also took part in clinics during the event, and the strong response helped turn the festival into an annual tradition.