Hailey Niswanger of MAE.SUN

Famed New York-area radio station WBGO-FM/WBGO.org, NPR Music, and Berklee present The Checkout—Live at Berklee. The series brings critically acclaimed, New York–based Berklee alumni back to their alma mater. The shows are broadcast in New York over WBGO-FM as a special edition of The Checkout, the acclaimed multimedia show featuring what’s new in New York’s jazz scene. In addition, selected shows will be webcast live worldwide in high definition and available for on-demand listening at NPRmusic.org. They also are archived at Checkoutjazz.org.

MAE.SUN, led by saxophonist and composer Hailey Niswanger, is a contemporary, mixed-genre project. Its first album, Vol. 1: Inter-be, was released on November 3, 2017. Niswanger graduated from Berklee in 2011 with a B.A. in jazz performance.

While at Berklee, Niswanger was one of 14 students selected to be part of the inaugural class of the new Berklee Global Jazz Institute under the artistic direction of Danilo Pérez. Since then, she has shared the stage with Esperanza Spalding, DeeDee Bridgewater, George Duke, Joe Lovano, Terri Lyne Carrington, and many other jazz greats. 

Niswanger has been involved with a variety of musical projects that have taken her to Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and a slew of respected jazz festivals.