MAE.SUN

Thu, Jul 17

$30 TICKETS | ALL AGES In the luminous world of MAE.SUN (Hailey Niswanger), music is a sacred journey—a lifelong dialogue with the cosmos through saxophones, clarinets, flutes, piano, and vocals. From studying jazz at the prestigious Berklee College of Music on full scholarship, MAE.SUN began to travel the world as a professional musician and was inspired by a multitude of sounds and teachings. Awakened through Thich Nhat Hanh, MAE.SUN found a deeper meditation within her music and emerged with a new sound: fusing sonic landscapes, flowing with mantras, and rooted in love. Her MAE.SUN releases include Vol. 1: Inter-be (2017), Vol. 2: Into the Flow (2019), Vol. 3: Reverence (2024). Originally from Portland, Oregon, MAE.SUN first began making waves in the jazz community when she won the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz International Saxophone Competition before graduating high school. Her debut, Billboard-charting album Confeddie (2009), recorded as Hailey Niswanger, garnered praise from jazz critics, including Wall Street Journal’s Nat Hentoff, and was listed on NPR’s top jazz albums of the year. While living in New York City, she released her second and third albums, The Keeper (2012) and PDX Soul (2015), as she toured with Esperanza Spalding’s Radio Music Society. She also lent her talents to The Wolff & Clark Expedition, a collaboration between drummer Mike Clark and pianist Michael Wolff. MAE.SUN has continued to collaborate with a wide variety of artists in the music world. In 2021 her musical partnership with Mia Garcia brought forth OHMA, and their debut album Between All Things (2022) led them to open for FKJ on a North American tour. The duo released their second album, On Loving Earth (2024), and has performed internationally in Japan, Europe and Mexico. She has appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk with Karol G, Saturday Night Live with Demi Lovato, Sleigh Bells on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with David Letterman, as well as The Hollywood Bowl with Incubus. Her flute can be heard on Incubus’ newest album Morning View XXIII, Grammy-winning Black Parade by Beyoncé, and The Mosaic Project by Terri Lyne Carrington. Further collaborations expanding through many genres include, Clairo, Medasin, Kenny Barron, Harvey Mason, Vulfmon, Kinga Głyk, Ben Williams, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Anna Wise, Louis Futon, and more. For the past decade she has been recognized as a Rising Star in the DownBeat Critics Poll, featured in The Wall Street Journal, NPR, JazzTimes, Jazziz, and DownBeat Magazine. MAE.SUN has also performed at numerous venues and festivals across the US, including New York’s Blue Note, National Sawdust, BRIC and Winter Jazz Fest, San Jose Jazz Summerfest, and a live performance on WBGO’s The Checkout. When not on the road or in the studio, one can usually find MAE.SUN immersed in nature with a wooden flute in hand. Her sound is a call to remember the interconnectedness of all things as she shares the depth and beauty of life through sound.