Patricia Brennan

Patricia Brennan

“A vibraphonist to watch out for…” mentioned the New York City Jazz Record. Mexican born vibraphonist, marimbist, improviser and composer Patricia Brennan “has recently started to make her presence known on the New York avant-garde, working with such prominent bandleaders as Matt Mitchell and Michael Formanek.” observed The New York Times. Patricia is a member of Grammy nominated John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble and Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus. Patricia released her debut single “Sonnet” under Valley of Search, and released her solo debut album “Maquishti” in January 2021 also under the label Valley of Search. Patricia Brennan is a Valley of Search artist, BlueHaus Mallets artist and currently teaches at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and at the Jazz Studies program at NYU Steinhardt.

Anna Abondolo

Anna Abondolo

Bassist and composer, Anna Abondolo was raised in Los Angeles and currently resides in Boston. She is in her fourth year at the New England Conservatory as a jazz performance major. Anna has studied under the instruction of Donald Palma, Frank Carlberg, and John Clayton. She will be currently studying under the instruction of Anthony Coleman, Jason Moran, and John Mallia. Anna has performed with artists including Sean Jones, Dianne Reeves, and Tom Kubis in addition to her own groups and projects.

DoYeon Kim

DoYeon Kim

DoYeon Kim is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning virtuoso of the gayageum (a traditional Korean string instrument). In addition to traditional Korean music, DoYeon specializes in free jazz, jazz, and improvisation. She regularly performs solo and group concerts worldwide in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America…

Allison Philips

Allison Philips

Allison Philips is a Brooklyn-based trumpet player, composer, and educator. From the traditional trio setting to genre-bending explorations via electronics, Allison is always searching for new ground. Philips holds a BFA in Jazz Performance from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City and an MM in Jazz Performance from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Between teaching and performing throughout Europe and North America, Allison spends her time commuting on her bicycle in Brooklyn and eating at B&H Dairy in the East Village.

Zekkereya El-Magharbel

Zekkereya El-Magharbel

Zekkereya (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist originally from the Los Angeles Area. They are a member of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and has also worked with West Coast Luminaries such as Busdriver, JMD, Trevor Lawrence, William Roper, Zeroh, MAIA, and Michael Session. They have also shown animated films internationally, most of them exploring visual music. They also make graphic scores both animated and still.

Eddy Kwon

Eddy Kwon

eddy kwon (b. 1989 – aka edi kwon) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, New York). Her practice connects composition, performance, improvisation, dance, and ceremony to explore transformation & transgression, ritual practice as a tool to queer ancestral lineage, and the use of mythology to connect, obscure, and reveal.

Joey Chang

Joey Chang

Pianist/Improviser Joey (Ian-Joe) Chang has performed improvisation in venues including The Stone at the New School, Roulette, and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center. He has presented fully improvised concerts at the Sparkhill concert series and the Clayton Piano Festival in NC and has composed structured improvisation for art installations as well as dance choreography. He is co-founder, with violinist Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim, of "The Moving Orchestra", a multidisciplinary improvisation organization. Joey obtained his B.M. and M.M. from the Juilliard School.

Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim

Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim

Based in New York City, South Korean violinist/improviser/teacher Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim has been presented by acclaimed organizations such as Chamber Music America, House of Yes, International Contemporary Ensemble, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Metropolis Ensemble, The Juilliard School, Prague Conservatory, and Music..

Miriam Elhajli

Miriam Elhajli

Miriam Elhajli is a folk singer, composer-improviser, and musicologist whose work is influenced by the rich musical traditions of her Venezuelan, Moroccan and North American heritage. Elhajli currently lives in New York City where she performs and works as a researcher at The Association for Cultural Equity founded by Alan Lomax…

Carrie Furniss

Carrie Furniss

Carrie Furniss is a critically acclaimed vocalist, educator, improviser, bandleader, and composer based in New York City. With a background in jazz, she has explored almost every genre of music through a creative, improvisatory lens, performing in jazz, rock, pop, country, and experimental groups, often contributing her own compositions. Recently, Carrie has been dedicated to the practice of home recording, production, and synthesis, culminating in the release of her first solo record on Topos Press.

Shara Lunon

Shara Lunon

Shara Lunon is a multidisciplinary vocalist based in New York City. Her artistic career leads with a Black American focus, using the full range of the voice in sound, wordplay, and visual art. Shara combines both improvised and scored vocals with intention of lyric (text and melody) over beat-heavy rhythms and ethereal ambiance. She has toured with several bands and as a soloist in South America and Europe. Shara received her undergraduate degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of Florida and a Vocal Certificate from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Shara is currently working towards her Masters in Music in Performance and Composition at the New School.

Amanda Ekery

Amanda Ekery

Vocalist and composer Amanda Ekery collaborates with everyone, literally. Historians, artists, engineers, bakers, you name it. Amanda works with all to create projects that invite others to explore and share their stories. Learn more at aekerymusic.com

Adam O'Farrill

Adam O'Farrill

Brooklyn-bred artist Adam O’Farrill has been heralded as “among the the leading trumpeters in jazz- and perhaps the music’s next major improviser.” (The New York Times). Born into a musical legacy that includes composer Chico O’Farrill and pianist Arturo O’Farrill, Adam has cemented his status as one of creative music’s most in-demand voices, collaborating with the likes of Mary Halvorson, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mulatu Astatke, Samora Pinderhughes, Anna Webber, Vijay Iyer, Mahogany L. Browne, Kambui Olujimi, and Onyx Collective…

Weston Olencki

Weston Olencki

Weston Olencki is a musician, composer, and sound artist. Weston is currently making work centered around questions of instrumental music and its contexts/constructs, various mediated practices of listening and improvisation, and the technological, material, and cultural histories of rural space/time…

Jen Hinkle

Jen Hinkle

As one of the most in-demand NYC freelancers, bass trombonist Jen Hinkle can be seen playing with the Grammy Award-winning Afro Bop Alliance Big Band, the Grammy Award-nominated Dan Pugach Nonet and has subbed with the legendary Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. She also regularly performs as substitute musician in many Broadway pit orchestras. As the bass trombonist and Artistic Director of Calliope Brass Quintet, Jen is constantly generating new creative ideas to engage people in the arts, on display with the group's signature piece "What's Your Story?". Jen formerly held the position of bass trombonist with the Spokane Symphony. She left to pursue her dream of starting new and exciting projects of her own, but continues to perform classically and has played with many orchestras – including the Seattle Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the New Haven Symphony.

Sara Mayo

Sara Mayo

Sara Mayo is a native of the Pacific Northwest who now splits her time between the West and the East Coast, and therefore now mostly lives in the sky. On the left side of the country, she is the principal trombonist of the Yakima Symphony, and has also previously performed with groups such as the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Symphony Tacoma, and the Spokane Symphony. On the right side of the country, she works as a freelancer in New York City. She is the tenor trombonist of Calliope Brass and regularly performs with other groups such as the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, the Chelsea Symphony, and anyone else who'll hire her. She has appeared as a featured soloist with the Yakima Symphony and the Tacoma Community College Concert Band.

Erin Paul

Erin Paul

Erin Paul is a New York based French hornist, known for a versatile performance career, as a co-founder of the nonprofit ensemble Calliope Brass, and host of the podcast Doublers. Her diverse performance career includes Broadway, Carnegie Hall, the Las Vegas Strip, and appearances with major artists including Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban. Additionally, she is the horn player and director of operations for Calliope Brass. Calliope’s recent educational workshop, “What’s Your Story?”, was developed in collaboration with creatives from Hamilton and Sesame Street; following successful live tours in 2018 and 2019, the quintet adapted the workshop for remote classrooms, dubbed “What’s Your Story? Online!”.

Kate Umble Smucker

Kate Umble Smucker

Dr. Kate Umble Smucker is a member of the nationally touring Calliope Brass Quintet and teaches music at The Grace Church School. Working with Calliope Brass as the education and curriculum coordinator, Kate contributed to the educational show, “What’s Your Story?” She is the founder and band leader of the 16 piece King Street Big Band based in Lancaster, PA. Kate holds a Doctorate in Trumpet Performance from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, a Masters of Music from the University of North Texas, and Bachelors of Music Education (K-12 instrumental) and Trumpet Performance from the University of Northern Colorado.

Olivia Pidi

Olivia Pidi

Trumpet player Olivia Pidi is currently a member of New York City quintet Calliope Brass, subtle cheetah brass, and 2nd trumpet of The Montclair Orchestra. In addition to performing, Olivia teaches a full studio of trumpet students. As a chamber musician and soloist, Olivia has received the Alsop Family Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Award and placed in the 2019 International Women’s Brass Conference audition competitions. Olivia holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music (MM) and Oberlin Conservatory (BM), where she received the Carmine Caruso Scholarship, the Cecil Collins Award for brass performance, and the James “Jimmy” Stamp Award for trumpet performance.

Rebecca Steinberg

Rebecca Steinberg

Based in New York City, trumpeter Rebecca Steinberg has a career marked by her warm, inviting sound and stylistic versatility. She performs regularly with staged productions, including Off-Broadway runs of “The Sorceress” and the renowned Yiddish-language production of “Fiddler on the Roof” (and can be heard on Fiddler’s 2018 cast album by Warner Music Group). Other notable performances include: City Center Encores! Production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Roadshow,” Symphony Space’s “Wall to Wall” Leonard Bernstein tribute, Adele at Radio City Music Hall, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She most enjoys her work with Calliope Brass, her ensemble that collaborates with creatives ranging from composers to Sesame Street puppeteers. Rebecca won the 2018 Liz Swados Inspiration Grant, an annual award honoring influential female music educators in New York City, on behalf of the ensemble.