Board Profile: Kaety Byerley

AFCM is managed by volunteers who, in addition to having outstanding experience and qualifications, are passionate about chamber music. This season they tell us about their relationship to music.

Q: What would you tell your younger self about music that you know now?
Kaety Byerly: Pay more attention to music theory. I wish I had a stronger grasp of theory so I could look behind the curtain and understand the mechanics and occasional secret messages written in the music.

Q: What piece do you find yourself returning to again and again?
KB: The Bach Cello Suites. I love playing them, and I love hearing how others grow and change their expressions and interpretations.

Q: What CD would we be surprised to find on your shelf?
KB: I don’t have CDs anymore…I just stream music! But I am a ridiculous fan of Hamilton.

Q: You’re headed to a deserted island, what album would you take?
KB: I would probably be pretty stressed and would need some music to help me calm down! Erik Satie: Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes, or Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny: Beyond the Missouri Sky.

Q: Has music ever made you think differently?
KB: Music has always helped me through difficult periods in my life. Even on especially dark days, I find some glimmer of hope or beauty, some sense of awe in the right piece of music.

Q: Does music serve a moral purpose in your view?
KB: Music provides affective access to the actual and emotional experiences of others. What other medium can bring to life the Flight of a Bumblebee or the stormy passion of La Mer? It is a universal language.

Q: Tell us about one of this season’s concerts that looks particularly appealing to you.
KB: I am looking forward to the next concert on December 12: Neave Trio. I love the balance of instruments in a piano trio and the fact that they are performing all female composers is fantastic!

Q: What was the last good book you read?
KB: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Q: What’s your favorite piece of music no one has heard of?
KB: Julius Rontgen String Trio no. 1 in D major

Q: What composer would you play for someone who’s never listened to chamber music before?
KB: Mozart Serenade for Winds K.361, 3rd Movement, Adagio. This was the piece of music I heard at eight years old that moved me to want to play music!

Q: Which living composer (in any genre) do you most admire?
KB: I am a big fan of Jonny Greenwood’s compositions for films…he is also the amazing guitarist and sound-maker for the rock band, Radiohead.