FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Katlyn Morahan | Morahan Arts and Media

katlyn@morahanartsandmedia.com | 646-378-9386

BARYSHNIKOV ARTS CENTER PRESENTS
THE WESTERLIES IN TAKING SHAPE ON
OCTOBER 19 & 20

Taking Shape Includes Four World Premieres
By Each Member of The Westerlies,
Inspired by American Shape-Note Music

www.westerliesmusic.com

New York, NY (September 7, 2022) — Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) presents New York-based brass quartet The Westerlies in a program entitled Taking Shape at BAC’s Howard Gilman Performance Space on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 7:30pm and Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 7:30pm.

Deeply influenced by American folk and jazz traditions while incorporating the intimacy and precision of chamber music, The Westerlies’ brand-new program highlights the style of shape-note music—a body of work written with a notation system designed to facilitate congregational and social singing. The program includes four world premieres commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts Center, one by each of the quartet members and inspired by shape-note music, which showcase the group’s talent for improvisation while cutting new trails across the vast expanse of the American musical landscape.

“Folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous,” (NPR) The Westerlies perform additional works on the program including Robert Henry by Andy Clausen, Entr’acte by Caroline Shaw, Saro (traditional), and an additional selection of shape-note songs: Weeping Mary (traditional), Louisiana by William Walker, and Parting Friends arranged by John G. McCurry.

Performance Details
Taking Shape
The Westerlies
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 7:30pm
Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 7:30pm
Baryshnikov Arts Center
Howard Gilman Performance Space
450 West 37th Street
New York, NY 10018
Tickets: $20
Ticket Link: https://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/the-westerlies

Program:
Selections to include:

Andy Clausen - Robert Henry

Shape Note Songs:

Traditional - Weeping Mary
William Walker - Louisiana
Arr. John G. McCurry - Parting Friends

Four Original Compositions by The Westerlies (World Premiere)

Caroline Shaw - Entr’acte

Traditional - Saro

Artists:
Riley Mulherkar, trumpet
Chloe Rowlands, trumpet
Andy Clausen, trombone
Willem de Koch, trombone

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.

Equally at home in concert halls and living rooms, 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).

Recent performances include New Music at the Nasher, Noe Valley Chamber Music, Earshot Jazz Festival, the Norton Center for the Arts, the Moore Theatre, Shenandoah University, Purdue Convocations, the Oxford Performing Arts Center, Luther College, the Schubert Club, St. John’s University, and the University of Washington. The ensemble was also featured with Fleet Foxes at Coachella, the Hollywood Bowl, the Greek Theatre Berkeley, Red Rocks, the Newport Folk Festival, Merriweather Post Pavilion, the Santa Fe Opera, Outside Lands in San Francisco, Panorama New York City, and the Pitchfork Music Festival. The ensemble has produced numerous critically acclaimed albums of genre-defying music. In May 2021, The Westerlies released Bricolage (Westerlies Records), a collaborative album of improvisations with pianist/composer Conrad Tao. 2021 also saw the release of This Land, the ensemble’s collaboration with GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Theo Bleckmann. The Westerlies have produced three albums of quartet music: their 2014 debut, Wish the Children Would Come On Home: The Music of Wayne Horvitz (Songlines), a 2016 double-CD of primarily original compositions, The Westerlies (Songlines), and their 2020 release, Wherein Lies the Good (Westerlies Records). Sought-after collaborators, The Westerlies are also featured on recordings by Fleet Foxes (Nonesuch), Vieux Farka Touré (Six Degrees Records), Common (Lakeshore) and Dave Douglas (Greenleaf).

Photo credit: Kevin W. Condon

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