This year’s 4th Annual Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholars in Residence were the Westerlies, a New York-based brass group that aims to, according to their website, “amplify unheard voices, paint new sonic landscapes, and cultivate a global community.”

Music Department Chair Kingsely Tang introduced the group with a story of when he met Rep. John Lewis, who explained to Tang the importance of music during the Civil Rights Movement.

Tang also discussed the importance of music to himself and our society. “It’s a reminder of the best of ourselves, it’s a reminder of the beauty of the world, and a reminder of everything we need to overcome,” Tang said.

From a living room in Brooklyn, New York, the Westerlies spoke to and performed via a Zoom Webinar. The four-member brass band performed three songs live as well as showed videos they had produced in collaboration with Parker students.

As this year’s Joan W. Harris Visiting Music Scholars in Residence, the Westerlies have worked with students through Zoom class visits and virtual presentations throughout the past semester. They also recorded and shared a Morning Ex with the community.

The Westerlies visited primarily with students in the Upper School Jazz Band, led by music teacher Stu Greenspan. Over the course of the second semester, the Westerlies met with students in the Jazz Band over Zoom where they spent time working on the principles of composition and improvisation.

Music Teacher Mike Matlock, who works with the Jazz Band, attended many of the Westerlies’ Zoom calls with the students. Matlock appreciated the opportunity for his students to learn and hear from professional musicians who have had a less traditional career.

“I think it’s so important for kids to see that because many times we think of a career in music as playing in the Chicago Symphony. Or, you know, or even what I do playing in theater and playing in pit orchestras,” Matlock said. “But there’s so much to having a musical career.”

The Westerlies’ visits also provided a chance for students to hear directly from musicians in the field. “Right off the bat, when we heard some performances from them, it was like this sound that I had never really heard before… And the other thing that makes them unique is that they specialize in improvisation,” Matlock said. “As guests with the jazz ensemble they gave some insight into how to approach improvisation… I’ve learned a lot from it, as have the students.”

The Westerlies also discussed the classical music canon and its lack of diversity. The Westerlies explained how they are working to try to move away from the “narrow tradition of the past and create an inclusive, diverse new canon.”

Tang said he was “very encouraged when talking to the Westerlies early on” by their commitment to social justice and representation, a commitment that he believes aligns with Parker’s mission.

“At its core, ideas of social justice and ideas about equity are about how we see people as human beings, and seeing them as having value, and how they express their value and knowledge and talents to different disciplines,” Tang said. “That shouldn’t just be something in a history class… and we want our guests to reflect that.”

The Westerlies will be returning to Parker in the fall, ideally in person, said Tang, where they will continue to work with students throughout the school.