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Sunday, August 9 2026
Ali and the Wild Geese
Ahren Bucheister — guitar
Zoe Kushubar — Violin
Olivia Thompson — Voice
Ali Cook — bass, piano, and voice
“Unsent Letters“
Ali and the Wild Geese invite you to share the joys and trials of life’s journey in song. This Americana string band weaves plucks, picks, bows, and strums in an evening of storytelling and heart-pouring. Each song offers sonic companionship through memory, desire, and raw experience. Ali’s crystalline voice invites you to come as you are às lush harmonies soothe the soul. Her classical background and multidisciplinary career culminate in this recent project- its namesake more than a nod to American poet, Mary Oliver.
About the Artists
Ali Cook, bass, has toured Russia with the National Symphony Orchestra as well as Germany, Turkey, Spain, and Austria with Christoph Eschenbach and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. She has performed with the Detroit and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Washington National Opera, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Salzburger Festspiele. She currently lives in Austin TX, where she combines a career as a singer/songwriter with her role as arranger/composer and performer for QuinTango.
You can find out more about Ali and the Wild Geese, plus hear musical excerpts at AliandtheWildGeese.com
Ahren Buchheister is a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Annapolis Maryland. He has his hands in everything from classical music, musical theater, wedding bands, live band karaoke, country, rock, pop, and Americana. When he’s not playing music he is drinking too much coffee listening to sci-fi audiobooks and hanging out with his two cats named Star and Gigabyte.
Originally from South Carolina, Zoe Kushubar has called the DMV home for the last four years. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland, and she is equally passionate about violin pedagogy, historical performance practice, modern violin styles, and European folk traditions. She is currently a member of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, and she is also on the teaching faculty at the International School of Music, Opal Music Studio, and British International School of Washington. Zoe most recently performed at the Carmel Bach Festival as a member of the Baroque and Classical Academy Fellowship Quartet.
Coming from North Carolina, Olivia has achieved her Bachelor of Arts in Music Studies, and she is about to graduate with her Master of Arts in Music Education this December. She has had 14 years of classical vocal training, and had pursued that in her undergraduate degree. She has performed in many musicals, choir ensembles, solo vocal performances, as well as the opera Pirates of Penzance. Her vocal training allows her to perform languages such as French, German, Italian, English, and Russian. Olivia has also had 12 years of classical piano training while pursuing her musical career.
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