Biography
Trumpeter Riley Mulherkar brings together his wide-ranging jazz, classical, and folk roots as a versatile and imaginative instrumentalist. He first drew broad notice through his role in the boundary-pushing new-music brass quartet the Westerlies. In 2020 he received Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award, and in 2024 he issued his debut solo recording, Riley.
Growing up in Seattle, Mulherkar was immersed in music from an early age; his older siblings performed in the school jazz ensemble. He requested a trumpet at six and soon began lessons. In 2010 he entered the Juilliard School in New York City, where he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 2014 he became the inaugural recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant presented at the Festival of New Trumpet Music. He is also the 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award.
While still at Juilliard he helped establish the Westerlies, a group that has issued several widely praised albums: 2014’s Wish the Children Would Come on Home: The Music of Wayne Horvitz, 2017’s Little Giant Still Life with Dave Douglas and Anwar Marshall, 2020’s Therein Lies the Good, and 2021’s This Land with Theo Bleckmann.
Alongside his performing career, Mulherkar has devoted considerable energy to education. From 2016 to 2018 he served as an ambassador for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People program. In 2021 he launched the Joye in Aiken Jazz Camp in Aiken, South Carolina, and he has directed the Summer Advanced Institute at Seattle JazzEd. He also holds a faculty position at the College of Performing Arts at The New School in New York. In 2024 he released his debut solo album, Riley, which paired his own sophisticated originals with carefully chosen standards. Vocalist Vuyo Sotashe appeared as a guest, while pianist/programmer Chris Pattishall, programming and sound designer Rafiq Bhatia, bassist Russell Hall, and drummer Kyle Poole contributed to the sessions.
Growing up in Seattle, Mulherkar was immersed in music from an early age; his older siblings performed in the school jazz ensemble. He requested a trumpet at six and soon began lessons. In 2010 he entered the Juilliard School in New York City, where he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In 2014 he became the inaugural recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant presented at the Festival of New Trumpet Music. He is also the 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award.
While still at Juilliard he helped establish the Westerlies, a group that has issued several widely praised albums: 2014’s Wish the Children Would Come on Home: The Music of Wayne Horvitz, 2017’s Little Giant Still Life with Dave Douglas and Anwar Marshall, 2020’s Therein Lies the Good, and 2021’s This Land with Theo Bleckmann.
Alongside his performing career, Mulherkar has devoted considerable energy to education. From 2016 to 2018 he served as an ambassador for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People program. In 2021 he launched the Joye in Aiken Jazz Camp in Aiken, South Carolina, and he has directed the Summer Advanced Institute at Seattle JazzEd. He also holds a faculty position at the College of Performing Arts at The New School in New York. In 2024 he released his debut solo album, Riley, which paired his own sophisticated originals with carefully chosen standards. Vocalist Vuyo Sotashe appeared as a guest, while pianist/programmer Chris Pattishall, programming and sound designer Rafiq Bhatia, bassist Russell Hall, and drummer Kyle Poole contributed to the sessions.
Albums
Singles
