Projects

Emily Kuhn Quintet

The Emily Kuhn Quintet features Emily Kuhn (trumpet), Erik Skov (guitar), Meghan Stagl (piano/vocals), Kitt Lyles (bass), and Gustavo Cortiñas (drums). The group relies on their strong foundation of musical trust to deftly navigate influences from jazz, rock, chamber music, and Americana. They have performed throughout Chicago, the Midwest, and the Southeast, and at festivals including Stanford Jazz Festival (2023), Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks program (2023), Hey Nonny’s Women’s Jazz Festival (2022), and the Festival of New Trumpet Music (2021). Their 2023 album, Ghosts of Us, received many accolades and is available for purchase on Bandcamp.

Helios

Helios is a nine-piece ensemble led by trumpeter Emily Kuhn that combines chamber music and jazz to perform highly improvisational, expressive music. With a string quartet in lieu of a single chordal instrument, the band plays original music and arrangements that are rooted in jazz and weave between sounds from folk, popular, and classical musical traditions. Helios’ unique instrumentation lends itself to an emphasis on highly melodic, groove-based songs with lush harmonies, and the music is often inspired by the natural world. The band has appeared at venues including the Green Mill and Elastic Arts, and in 2018 they presented an educational concert series through the Chicago Park District's Night Out in the Parks program. They are one of the two featured bands on Kuhn’s 2020 release, Sky Stories.

 Helios features musicians active in many music scenes across Chicago, including Mercedes Inez Martinez (vocals), Emily Kuhn (trumpet), Max Bessesen (woodwinds), Myra Hinrichs (violin), Erendira Izguerra (violin), Christine Fliginger (viola), Danny Hoppe (cello), Evan Levine (bass), and Gustavo Cortiñas (drums). The group is available as a nonet, sextet, or quartet.