Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey Q. Snyder
Hi Audrey Q., we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in a musical family just outside Chicago, and was classically-trained as a cellist. I still love classical music (including concert music written by living composers!) but a lot of my career has ended up involving a lot of musicals, pop/rock, and lots of other contemporary styles. My first touring gig was with the musical The Bridges of Madison County, and after I returned to Chicago I started subbing on the production of Hamilton that spanned 2016-2020. During this time, I continued writing and arranging my own music for three cellos, vocals (I play and sing), and drums, which I’ve recorded over the course of 3 EPs. I also started touring with The Who in 2019, acting as a principal cellist and co-librarian as we worked with orchestral players in cities across North America. In 2021, I was hired to tour full time as a pit musician with Hamilton, and would continue to tour with them (while taking time off to play with The Who for a few weeks at a time) until 2023. I still love touring and traveling, but the full-time, on-the-road work reached its natural end last summer, and I decided I wanted to try Minneapolis!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my career, but I’ve spent a lot of time as a freelancer, which is an inherently unstable way to make a living. You can be doing great one month, and then barely work during the next month– it’s a double-edged sword to experience such interesting variety in your pursuits, but to also have that unpredictability that goes along with it. I know one thing that I (and many of my peers) struggled with a lot in 2020 was the experience of having my sense of value and worth *so* tied to my ability to Be a Musician, and then to have all my gigs dry up was super disorienting, not to mention a shock to my bank account. Obviously, I could have had it a lot worse– I didn’t get sick and experience the same loss as many others, and culturally/socially speaking there were definitely a lot bigger fish to fry. I do think it made a lot of us (musicians) reevaluate our relationships to our careers.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a cellist who just really loves making and playing music. Cello is my instrument, but it’s also just the vehicle for all the different kinds of music that interest me. I’m probably most engaged when I’m playing really rhythmic music (which can run the gamut from avant-garde “classical” music to pop styles), and I like being attuned to other players, as opposed to playing solo. I’m a good listener, and I like supporting other musicians– whether that means in the context of playing together, or if I’m going to their shows, or I’m interviewing them for my podcast (it’s called AudPod). One of the things I was looking for when I stopped touring full-time was the opportunity to make music in a fulfilling, genuine, and consistent way in a supportive community– that’s the goal that I keep coming back to, and the one that I want to steer my decisions most of the time.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that it’s a smaller city with a LOT of music, but also that I can get to *Nature* really quickly and easily– the best of both worlds. The thing I like least isn’t necessarily just a Minneapolis issue– there are so many bands that are a lot of dudes. Like…so many dudes, and most of them white. There’s a longer conversation there, but I would love to see especially more femme folks and Black musicians at the fore in this scene.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://audreyqsnyder.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audqs/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@audreyqsnyder?si=TtUuUoHVxE0ZbCQm
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/audqs
- Other: https://audreyq.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Harvey Tillis, Brian Kehew, Susan Haugh
