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contact the development office at 

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nga.gov/music

76TH SEASON OF CONCERTS

APRIL 29, 2018 / NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
Photo by Sasha Arutyunova

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Program

The Westerlies

Riley Mulherkar and Zubin Hensler, trumpet

Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch, trombone

The Songs We Sang: American Vocal Music ofthe 20th Century

In celebration ofInternationalJazz Day

APRIL 29, 2018/3:30

WEST BUILDING, WEST GARDEN COURT

Five Compositions by The Westerlies

“A Nearer Sun,” Riley Mulherkar

“Double Situation,” Riley Mulherkar

“So So Shy,” Zubin Flensler

“The Beekeeper,” Willem De Koch

“Rue Des Rosiers,” Andy Clausen

Four Pieces by Duke Ellington*

“Where’s the Music?”

“Echoes of Harlem”

“Lightning Bugs and Frogs”

“Le Sucrier Velours”

Four Songs by Charles Ives

“In the Mornin’”

“The Children’s Hour”

“Memories”

“Songs My Mother Taught Me”

Five Spirituals by The Golden Gate

Jubilee Quartet

“Golden Gate Gospel d rain”

“ Fravelin’ Shoes”

“Remember Me”

“Born Ten Thousand Years Ago”

“Do Unto Others”

American Songwriters

“The Kiss,” Judee Sill

“Eli,” Arthur Russell

“New Berlin, New York,” Andy Clausen

Traditional

“Pretty Saro”

*Premiere of new arrangements of Duke Ellington’s music

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The Ensemble

The Westerlies are a New York-based brass quartet comprised of four childhood

friends from Seattle, Washington: Riley Mulherkar and Zubin Hensler on trumpet,

and Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch on trombone.

Formed in 2011, this self-described “accidental brass quartet” takes its name

from the prevailing winds that travel from the West to the East. Portrayed as “Skilled

interpreters who are also adept improvisers” (NPR’s FreshAir), 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).

Equally at home in concert halls and living rooms, The Westerlies navigate a wide

array of venues with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and

the charm of a family sing-along.

The ensemble has produced two critically acclaimed albums of genre-defying

chamber music: its 2014 debut, Wish the Children Would Come On Home: The Music

ofWayne Horvitz, and a 2016 double-CD of primarily original compositions, The

Westerlies. Sought-after collaborators, The Westerlies are also featured on recordings

by the Fleet Foxes (Nonesuch), Vieux Farke Toure (Six Degrees Records), and Dave 

Douglas (Greenleaf).

The Westerlies’ 2017-2018 season includes featured performances at Musical

Masterworks (New Fyme, Connecticut); Clefworks (Montgomery, Alabama);

Mobile Chamber Music (Mobile, Alabama); Joye in Aiken (Aiken, South Carolina);

the Bologna Performing Arts Center (Cleveland, Mississippi); and the National

Gallery ofArt in Washington, DC. The ensemble will continue its residency work

at Sound Places Project (Kenner, Louisiana), a program supported by the Chamber

Music Association and the National Endowment for the Arts. It will also complete

residencies at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival (San Juan Islands, Washington) and Yellowbarn Music Center (Putney, Vermont). In addition, the ensemble

joins the indie folk band Fleet Foxes on select tour dates at the Newport Folk

Festival, the Merriweather Post Pavilion, Celebrate Brooklyn, Outside Fands (San

Francisco), the Hollywood Bowl, the Santa Fe Opera, and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Morrison, Colorado).

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T he Westerlies’ latest concert program, Songs We Sang: American Vocal Music

of the 20th Century, traces the sound of the twentieth century through a variety of

American vocal traditions. From the songs of Charles Ives to the spirituals of the

Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet, The Westerlies draw a line through jazz, classical,

and folk languages.

This season will also mark the release ofseveral new recordings: Little Giant

Still Life, a collaborative album with pioneering jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas

and drummer Anwar Marshall, and a new series of collaborative video singles

with vocalists Theo Bleckmann, Robin Holcomb, Kate Davis, and Xuyo Sotashe.

The Westerlies are frequently invited to engage in educational and community

outreach. T hey have presented master classes at the Juilliard School, the Manhattan

School ofMusic, Yale University, New York University, the University ofMaryland,

the University of Nevada (Reno), the University ofWashington, StArt (Kissimmee, 

Florida), and Seattle JazzEd.

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Romare Bearden, Untitled (Jazz II). 1980. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Reba and Dave Williams Collection,

Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation

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Upcoming Events ofthe SeventySixth Season of The William

Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot

Belin Concerts

Unless otherwise noted, all programs

take place in the West Building,

West Garden Court.

Julia Bullock, soprano

John Arida, piano

Music by Schubert, Barber, Faure,

and more

May 6, 3:30

Ranky lanky

Celebrating Outliers andAmerican

VanguardArt

May 13, 3:30

Christina and Michelle Naughton

Piano music by Mozart, Schubert,

Bolcom, Bach/Kurtag, Debussy,

Chopin, and Lutoslawski 

May 20, 3:30