BIOGRAPHY
Millie Ahearn is a creative and forward-thinking musician in the Chicago music scene. She blends her dynamic bandleading and compositional flair with a commitment to mentorship and community building, directing her musical voice in all channels towards social change. Her music houses the experiences of a transgender musician navigating expressions of queerness through jazz, focusing largely on transformation and the coming of the self into new life. Millie's debut record, Octagyn (World Heart Beat Records, 2022), precedes work on her upcoming album, Theyness: a 12-song storybook that paints the human self as a multitude and examines the beautiful chaos of developing self-love. Read more about the Octagyn project here.
Since moving from London to Chicago, Millie has established multiple ensembles, including her signature group The Octagyn Collective, a quintet, a trio, and NOLA quartet Don Juan's Brass Disaster. This has seen her present original music at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Jazz Showcase, Andy’s Jazz Club, Evanston SPACE, and many other Chicago venues. She currently hosts a jam session at Clara on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th Wednesdays of each month, a space she established to center the voices of Female, Non-Binary, Genderqueer, and otherwise Trans musicians in the jazz scene. This exists alongside her curated concert series designed to spotlight bandleaders and composers hailing from these communities.
As a sidewoman, Millie has had the fortune to perform with various high-profile musicians, including Martha & the Vandellas and members of The Temptations, The Four Tops, and The Platters. She has also performed at Riotfest, the Des Plaines Theatre, Cantigny Jazz and Wine Fest, Winnetka Music Festival, Glenwood Arts Fest, Oktoberfest, and NOLA North, in addition to engagements at the United Center and Wrigley Field. Millie earned her bachelors degree at the University of Oxford, her masters degree at Northwestern University, and is currently pursuing a diploma at DePaul University. Previously, Millie had studied in London under Julian Joseph, Trevor Watkis, Gerard Presencer, and Mornington Lockett.
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Buy or stream Millie's music here:
For more updates, check out Millie's Instagram!
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