The musical productions of Los Angeles based trumpeter and producer Nic Chaffee

Called “a raucous, grungy, irresistibly exuberant … fun-loving, exceptionally virtuosic family” by Zachary Woolfe of the New York Times, Wild Up has been lauded as one of classical music’s most exciting groups by virtually every significant institution and critic within earshot. Artistic Director Christopher Rountree started the group in 2010 with a vision of a group of young musicians that rejected outdated traditions and threw classical repertoire into the context of pop culture, new music, and performance art. 

In 2020 the now GRAMMY Nominated ensemble celebrates 10 years of bringing people together around the belief that no music is off limits, that classical music concerts can defy convention and address the need for heart-wrenching, mind-bending experiences.

Over the past decade the group: accompanied Björk at Goldenvoice’s FYF Fest; premiered David Lang and Mark Dion’s “anatomy theater” at LA Opera; played the scores to “Under the Skin” by Mica Levi and “Punch Drunk Love” by Jon Brion live with the films at L.A.’s Regent Theater and Ace Hotel; premiered a new opera by Julia Holter at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust; premiered a new work of avant-pop icon Scott Walker and celestial loop-maker Juliana Barwick at Walt Disney Concert Hall; played a noise concert as a fanfare for the groundbreaking of Frank Gehry’s new building on Grand Avenue and First Street in downtown L.A.; and held performance and educational residencies at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Colburn School, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, National Sawdust, University of North Carolina, and the Hammer Museum, among others.

Composer, violist, and educator Brett Banducci was the 2016 recipient of the Andrew Imbrie Music Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.He is a frequent performer with the Pasadena Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony, and Hollywood Chamber Orchestra; and has played on countless records, films, and television scores— including albums by Madonna, Barbra Streisand, and Logic.
His compositions have been performed and premiered at Brooklyn MATA Festival’s Interval New Music Series, the Aspen Music Festival, Chamber Music Sedona, and the Los Angeles-based Hear Now Festival, among others. Brett received his DMA from the University of Southern California in 2016. His primary composition teachers have included Stephen Hartke, Frank Ticheli, Morten Lauridsen, and Byron Adams; and has studied viola with Pamela Goldsmith and Keith Greene. In 2009 he edited— for Universal Edition, Vienna—  the complete chamber works for viola of Ernst Krenek. Brett currently hosts a dynamic new podcast called Classical Chops Studio (set to be released summer 2018). Subscribe wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

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