alumni music

When Diane Goldstein Stein ’81, P’16,’21 traveled to Guatemala for the first time in 2018, she became acquainted with a non-profit that empowers indigenous female artisans. The organization, MayaWorks, helps girls, women, and their families achieve self-confidence and economic stability through various financial and educational initiatives. “Seeing the gorgeous and colorful tapestries and other items that they handcrafted wowed me,” Diane said. But so did their kind-hearted, warming personalities. “They're making lunch for us [while] we're meeting their friendly, polite, and affectionate children. They melted my heart. And that was just the start.” In 2020, Stein, who had befriended many…

Along with other musicians around the world this week, Goth Girlfriend (Gaby Giangola '17) posted her "2019 Spotify Wrapped" overview to Instagram. Accompanied by the caption "gotta start somewhere, eh?," the photo summarizes the number of streams and listeners who tuned in to Goth Girlfriend's music on the streaming service this year. The caption encapsulates Goth Girlfriend's tireless ambition. The up-and-coming artist's music is self-described as banshee rap or alternative rock; her sound is raw and meticulous at the same time. The five tracks on her recent EP, Sex Sprain, mix guitar chords and hip-hop beats with punk vocals, and…

Kitchen Ceilí and Friends performed at Russell House on Sunday afternoon of Family Weekend. Formed in 1993, Kitchen Ceilí features private lessons teacher Stan Scott PhD '97 on vocals, guitar, mandolin, and banjo; Dora Hast PhD ’94 on vocals, tin whistle, and recorders; and George Wilson on vocals, fiddle, banjo, and guitar. A ceilí (English pronunciation: kā'lē) is a traditional Gaelic social dance or gathering with music. On Sunday, the trio was joined by "Friends"—the Hindustani vocalists of the Rangila Chorus and vocalist/guitarist Sam Scheer—and the group widened their geographic focus, performing not only original and traditional music from Ireland, America,…

MGMT, a musical group formed in 2002 by Andrew VanWyngarden ’05 and Ben Goldwasser '05, is back on the scene with their fourth album Little Dark Age, released in 2018. This recent release is their first in half a decade and it represents a fresh, but familiar, musical direction. Unlike their last two albums, which veered towards the eccentric, Little Dark Age exhibits a clear pop influence and psychedelic retro synths with haunting, serious, and dark undertones. In their eponymous song, "Little Dark Age," for instance, they hint at a quotidian melancholy in the first verse: “The ruins of the day/ Painted with a scar/…

Garth Taylor ’12 is branching out. Over the past five years he has witnessed his Wesleyan band, The Rooks, expand beyond raucous campus concerts. Since graduation, they’ve relocated to New York City and to shows at larger and more established venues. His confidence and skills have grown in tandem with his band’s. And now he feels ready for a new challenge—a solo career, with the song "Human Nature." “It was a slow decision. In fact, I don’t even know if it was a decision,” he says. At first he didn’t feel very confident. But the city, so full of creative…

(By K Alshanetsky '17) Composer and musician Simon Riker ’14 showcased the original musical comedy Me Prometheus: Caveman Love Story at this year’s NY Summerfest Theatre Festival over the weekend. Conceived by Riker in 2010 and written in collaboration with friend Emerson Sieverts, the absurd full-length show about the prehistoric discovery of fire was produced first at Wesleyan and again at William and Mary. This summer, Me Prometheus appeared in its third live iteration with four sold-out shows on the New York Theatre Festival stage. In an article for the Times Square Chronicles, Riker is described as a “composer, music director, singer, and…

(By K Alshanetsky '17) Brooklyn rapper Latasha Alcindor ’10, also informally known as LA, is following up the release of her debut album B(LA)K. with her newest project, Teen Nite at Empire. The project is named for the Empire Rolling Skating Center, a former nightlife venue in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, which closed its doors in 2007 due to increasing gentrification in the area. As described on her Bandcamp––where audiences can listen to and purchase the album––it is dedicated to "the around the way ones, 2 for $5 bootlegs and realizing freedom.” Having grown up frequenting and coming of age…

(By K Alshanetsky '17) Multimedia artists Aditi Natasha Kini ’13 MALS '16 and Hanna Edizel ’14 recently premiered the music video for "Park Slope," a song from rapper, producer and 2010 Wesleyan alumnus OHYUNG. The co-directors were joined by cinematographer Neo Sora ’14 and actor Stephen Acerra ’12 in creating an absurdist accompaniment to OHYUNG’s record, which parodies Brooklyn gentrification and the “lifestyle” it sponsors for white gentrifiers. Focusing on Park Slope, one of New York City’s most affluent neighborhoods, OHYUNG and his collaborators enter into a larger citywide and national dialogue about the ever-growing problem of gentrification. As Kini…

(By K Alshanetsky '17) Jazz pianist, band leader and composer Darius Brubeck ’69 recently toured in Israel with his renowned Darius Brubeck Quartet as part of the Hot Jazz Series. The quartet performed seven shows across the country from June 3 to 10, presenting compositions written by Brubeck and his late father, a legendary jazz pianist best known for his album Time Out. Before returning to a career as a touring musician, Brubeck spent many years at the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa, where he founded the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music. Both an artist and an…

(By K Alshanetsky '17) Jess Eliot Myhre '05 is a professional touring musician with the band Bumper Jacksons. Their newest album, "I've Never Met a Stranger," will be broadcast nationally on NPR's Mountain Stage on May 5. The live performance will air on more than 200 NPR stations around the country, and the band will perform five original songs from the record. The group originally began as a duo—Jess Myhre (clarinet, vocals, washboard) and Chris Ousley (acoustic and electric guitar, vocals, banjo)—crafting a sound inspired by the jazz clubs of New Orleans and southern Appalachian folk music festivals. (more…)

Singer-songwriter Jess Best ’14 returns to campus on Jan. 29 to perform her original soul and jazz influences at the Russell House, the first performance of the spring Music at The Russell House series. Best, who was a music major, says she is influenced by Erykah Badu, Joni Mitchell, and Esperanza Spalding, and believes her time at Wesleyan has prepared her for a career in music. She explained, “Although I still constantly feel like I need to work extremely hard to feel at all prepared for being a musician, I'm so grateful I took visual arts classes and writing classes,…

Sarah Mohamed Abunama Elgadi ’04, known by her stage name Alsarah, recently released a new album, Manara, with her band, Alsarah & the Nubatones. Manara, or The Lighthouse, is rooted in the style of Sudan and Nubia, and inspired by East-African music. KCET.org says Manara “is more fluid and free-flowing than the band’s debut album, lifted by moaning trumpets and humming electronics, broken up by interludes of radio static and bits of the album’s penultimate track ‘Fulani.’” Alsarah, who was a music major at Wesleyan, is a Sudanese-born singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist based in Brooklyn. She is a self-proclaimed practitioner of…

Alumni Collaborate on Tapestry of Music Benefit Concert for Guatemalan Women

Gaby Giangola ’17 Is Goth Girlfriend

Alumni-Led Kitchen Ceilí and Friends Performs Traditional Music Spanning Cultures

MGMT’s Goldwasser ’05, VanWyngarden ’05 Release 4th Album

The Rooks’ Taylor ’12 Releases Single, Collaborates with Dancers

Riker ’14 Presents Musical Comedy at Summerfest

Rapper Latasha Alcindor ’10 Releases New Album

Kini ’13 and Edizel ’14 Direct Music Video about White Privilege

Brubeck ’69 Takes His Jazz Quartet on Tour

Music by Myhre ’05 To Be Broadcast on NPR’s Mountain Stage in May

Best ’14 Returns to Campus for Soul and Jazz Performance

Sudanese-American Singer Elgadi ’04 Releases New Album