Andy Clausen is a New York-based trombonist, composer, producer, and educator.
A graduate of The Juilliard School, Andy served as principal conductor and Artistic Director for Jazz at New York Youth Symphony from 2016-2023, and in 2021 joined the faculty of The New School as an Artist in Residence and professor of trombone and composition.
As a composer, Andy has worked in a variety of formats, from orchestral and large ensemble commissions, classical and jazz chamber music projects, as well as numerous film, television, radio, and podcast productions. For more info, see projects.
An in-demand collaborator across genres, Andy has performed, recorded, and arranged for for artists including:
Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Aaron Dessner, Big Red Machine, Joanna Newsom, Common, Big Thief, Feist, A$AP Ferg, Muzz, Remi Wolf, Anaïs Mitchell, Aoife O’Donovan, Haley Heynderickx, Vieux Farka Touré, Wynton Marsalis, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Frank Wess, Gerald Wilson, Bill Frisell, Kurt Elling, Joe Lovano, Theo Bleckmann, Kate Davis, Celisse Henderson, Nico Muhly, Maria Schneider, Dave Douglas, Wayne Horvitz, Conrad Tao, Gabriel Kahane, John Zorn, and The American Brass Quintet. For more info, see discography.
Andy has appeared at such wide-ranging venues as Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl, Red Rocks, Coachella, The Kennedy Center, Newport Folk Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, SF Jazz, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Pitchfork Music Festival, Radio City Music Hall, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and NPR Tiny Desk.
Andy is a founding member of The Westerlies, an award-winning new music chamber ensemble comprised of childhood friends from Seattle.
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. “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).
Since their founding in 2012, The Westerlies have produced a prolific and critically acclaimed body of chamber music recordings: their 2014 debut, Wish the Children Would Come On Home: The Music of Wayne Horvitz, a 2016 double-CD The Westerlies, the 2020 release, Wherein Lies the Good, their 2021 collaboration with vocalist Theo Bleckmann, This Land, and numerous additional digital releases, live recordings, and collaborations through their label Westerlies Music.
A passionate educator Andy has taught masterclasses at Yale, The Colburn School, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, The New School, University of Maryland, and University of Washington, as well as hundreds of public schools across the country.
Andy is a Conn-Selmer, Eventide Audio, and Moog Artist. He lives in Fort Greene Brooklyn with his wife Rachel. Aside from music, he enjoys cooking, biking, walking, travel, and photography.
For more information, see:
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THE WESTERLIES
The Westerlies, “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (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.
From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, 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).
The ensemble has produced three critically acclaimed albums of genre-defying chamber music: its 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 recent 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).
For more information visit The Westerlies’ website, facebook, instagram, twitter, or youtube.
THE WISHBONE SUITE
Andy’s evening length composition “The Wishbone Suite” was commissioned by King County 4Culture, and recorded for Table & Chairs Music in 2011. The 19-movement suite for chamber jazz ensemble of clarinet, accordion, piano, trombone and drums embodies Andy’s playful and vivid musical outlook. In the jazz tradition, compositionally crafted folk-like motifs act as springboards for the ensemble’s improvised material. While the traditional concept of the jazz solo is seldom present in Andy’s works, improvisatory counterpoint and conversations abound in his music, creating innovative opportunities for his band-mates to assert their personal voices.
Praise for The Wishbone Suite:
“Music for a clutch of hometown peers; its sprightly chamber-jazz aesthetic, with a palette including accordion and clarinet, revealed his admiration for the likes of John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet. Aglow with youthful enthusiasm but also extremely savvy, that album squared with my initial impressions of Clausen.” - Nate Chinen, Jazz Times
“Brilliant release by trombonist Clausen…finds a way to fuse these disparate musicians and their seemingly ill-fitting instruments into an alluring, whimsical, and just-plain-cool mix of jazz, classical, and experimental music. Challenging music that doesn’t shy away from also being pretty. Pick of the Week.” - Dave Sumner, eMusic
SHUTTER
SHUTTER is a chamber ensemble dedicated to multi-media installations that combine composition, improvisation and photography.
These photographs represent some of the most vivid and inspiring moments from my travels between 2012 and 2013,all shot using a 1970’s Nikkormat FT 35mm camera given to me by my mother.
Each composition was created from my first visceral reaction to the corresponding photograph, often on the same day I received the photos back from the development lab.
I humbly offer these images and sounds as a reflection of the beauty, character and mystery of these places.
The Split Stream Big Band
Outside of his position as Artistic Director for Jazz at New York Youth Symphony, Andy has also led his own “Split Stream Big Band” since 2009. A stylistically flexible 10-15 piece ensemble, the group has premiered over 20 original works by Clausen, inspired by the orchestrations of Gil Evans, the rhythmic cycles of Gamelon music, and the harmony of Igor Stravinsky.
Winning the Gerald Wilson Award for Jazz Composition from The Monterey Jazz Festival, Clausen’s compositions and his “Split Stream Big Band” have been hailed by the New York Times as “sleek, dynamic large-group jazz, a whirl of dark-hued harmony and billowing rhythm…The intelligent sheen of Mr. Clausen’s writing was as striking as the composure of his peers…It was impressive, and not just by the yardstick of their age.”
Concert Works
Andy has written numerous concert works and arrangements for a variety of occasions, most recently “This Is Water,” a three movement orchestral suite commissioned by The Seattle Collaborative Orchestra.
He has also written commissions for The Seattle Chamber Players, flutist Paul Taub.
FILM & MEDIA SCORING
An active composer for clients in film, television, radio, and advertising, Andy draws upon a diverse musical background in jazz, classical, pop, folk music, and electronic sound design to create unique sonic landscapes for each project. He enjoys working with directors and producers to realize their visions and support their stories through custom music.
Andy maintains a production facility in Brooklyn, NY and is fully equipped to compose, record, mix, and master projects of any scope and style.
Recent clients include NBC, MSNBC, The Michelle Obama Podcast, The New York Times, Bloomberg TV, KPCC, Carnegie Corporation, The Whitney Museum, Dell, Morgan Stanley, Mizuho Americas, Freedom House, NPR, and Blue Chalk Media.
FEATURE FILMS
Heaven: Can You Hear Me? (2020)
Heaven: Can You Hear Me explores the solidarity and sisterhood of a group of Black women in Philadelphia whose lives have been changed forever by gun violence.
I’ll See You Around (2018)
Lucas, an everyman, navigates complicated personal relationships in the context of a drug crisis that grips the nation and his own family, now and in the past. Will he be able to commit to those close to him or will his commitments weigh him down?
The Iron Triangle (2017)
In a bustling industrial community in Queens, New York, immigrant small business owners band together to fight a development plan that would bulldoze their slice of the American Dream. Their story launches an investigation into New York City’s history as the front line of deindustrialization, urban renewal, and gentrification.
Deadman’s Barstool (2017)
A murder-mystery comedy feature that revolves around the dubious death of a famed televangelist & the oddball personalities out to get his fortune.
5 Doctors (2016)
Convinced that he's dying from a bizarre array of symptoms, struggling comedian Spencer Kaminsky decides to visit his five childhood doctors in a single day, all while desperately trying to avoid the friends and family that he left behind.
TELEVISION
SHORT FILMS
RADIO / PODCASTS
The Big Burn (2022)
From KPCC / LAist Studios
Mother Country Radicals (2022)
From Crooked Media / Audacy
How To Citizen with Baratunde (2021)
from iHeart Media
The Michelle Obama Podcast (2020)
From Higher Ground Audio / Dustlight Productions
The Big One: Your Survival Guide (2019)
A six-part series from NPR / KPCC on the looming San Andreas earthquake.
Contact:
(206) 306-4992
ajclausen@gmail.com
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, or Soundcloud
For The Westerlies:
Middleton Arts Management
david@middletonartsmanagement.com
Tel: 401-592-0320
Fax: 401-592-0321
