Millie Ahearn
2024 Luminarts Fellow in Jazz Improvisation
Trumpet

Sponsored by: Rich and Becky Beem

Millie Ahearn is a trumpet player, keyboardist and composer hailing from London, UK. Her music houses the thoughts and feelings of a neurodivergent transgender musician navigating expressions of queerness in jazz, focusing largely on transformation and the coming of the self into new life. Millie's debut record, Octagyn (World Heart Beat Records), was released in 2022 and precedes work on her upcoming record, Theyness, releasing 2025. Millie currently hosts and curates a concert series and jam session at Wicker Park’s “Clara,” a session that platforms female, non-binary, genderqueer and otherwise trans individuals on the Chicago scene. She has also presented her original music across the city, most recently at the Jazz Showcase, Andy’s Jazz Club, Fulton St. Collective, Evanston SPACE and the Epiphany Center for the Arts. As a sideperson she has worked with Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the Kabir Dalwari Quintet, the Julia Danielle Quintet and others, performing at festivals and venues across the Midwest.