yMusic, a chamber sextet headquartered in New York City, draws on its uncommon lineup of trumpet, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, and cello to link the pop and classical spheres. Its collaborative approach has produced recordings alongside Dirty Projectors, St. Vincent, the Staves, the National, Bon Iver, Bruce Hornsby, and Ben Folds, as well as live projects with Anohni, John Legend, and Paul Simon. In 2023 the ensemble delivered its first set of entirely original material, issued under the straightforward title YMUSIC.
Launched in 2008 by trumpeter CJ Camerieri and violinist Rob Moose—its name taken from “Generation Y”—the group sought to advance American Contemporary Music through alliances with composers such as Andrew Norman, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Marcos Balter, and Caroline Shaw. The full roster also includes Alex Sopp on flute, Mark Dover on clarinet, Nadia Sirota on viola, and Gabriel Cabezas on cello. Its debut album, Beautiful Mechanical, appeared in 2011 on New Amsterdam Records and was named Time Out New York’s #1 Classical Record of the Year. Two further releases followed in 2014: Richard Reed Parry: Music for Heart and Breath, a partnership with the Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist, and the Son Lux-produced Balance Problems, which incorporated works by Timo Andres, Marcos Balter, Mark Dancigers, Nico Muhly, Andrew Norman, Sufjan Stevens, and Jeremy Turner.
The sextet served as Ben Folds’ backing band for the song sections of 2015’s So There and reached Carnegie Hall for the first time in 2016 with pieces by Caroline Shaw, Chris Thile, Sufjan Stevens, and others. Nonesuch issued the 2017 collaboration The Way Is Read with indie folk trio the Staves, mixing Staves originals and reconfigured yMusic compositions. In 2019 the ensemble appeared on Bruce Hornsby’s Absolute Zero LP, and in 2020 it released Ecstatic Science, a set of works by Caroline Shaw, Missy Mazzoli, Gabriella Smith, and Paul Wiancko. Three years later the six members jointly wrote and issued the acclaimed chamber music collection YMUSIC.
