THE WESTERLIES • BRASS QUARTET

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2026
4:00 PM
CHESTER MEETING HOUSE

 The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (The New York Times), hold a singular space in modern music. From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, the GRAMMY-nominated ensemble has upended presumptions of the brass tradition to create music that is “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music).

Comprising Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone, the ensemble has relentlessly composed, arranged, adapted, recorded, and toured over the past fifteen years with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.

Across ten critically acclaimed studio albums, The Westerlies have earned “a unique reputation for exploring the emotional textures of American music” (DownBeat), championing living composers and collaborators including Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Conrad Tao, Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, and Theo Bleckmann.

The Westerlies’ singular sound and virtuosic skill have also made them in-demand collaborators, playing in studio and live alongside artists from Common to Haley Heynderickx, and on GRAMMY-nominated releases from both Fleet Foxes and Aoife O’Donovan.

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At the conclusion of the program, audience members are invited to meet and greet the artists and share complementary catered snacks and a glass of wine.