Whistling Hens® was founded by soprano Jennifer Piazza-Pick and clarinetist Natalie Groom to perform and commission music by women composers to create a financially and artistically equitable future for women in music. The duo’s name was plucked from a quote by a male music critic who wrote in the New York Times in 1918, “women composers are at best whistling hens.”

A duo with “finesse and creative brilliance” (International Alliance for Women in Music Journal) and programming so engaging that “my daughter stopped reading Harry Potter to pay attention,” Whistling Hens creates performance experiences that integrate exceptional music, advocacy of women composers, and music history and education. 

Since its founding in 2018, Whistling Hens has premiered 38 pieces and commissioned 16 compositions, 10 transcriptions, the Whistling Hens Women Composer Coloring Book, and inspired 17 dedicated works. Whistling Hens has released two albums, Big Crass Monster (2025) and Reacting to the Landscape (2022), presenting numerous world premiere recordings featuring many of their commissioned works.

The Hens have been awarded the International Alliance for Women in Music Programming Award (2024), Iranian Female Composers Association Award (2023), as well as Chamber Music America's esteemed Classical Commissioning Grant (2022) and Residency Partnership Program Grant (2020), which brought a series of interactive, collaborative, and socially conscious programs to seniors at Collington Retirement Community during the pandemic.

The duo’s accomplishments and advocacy have been featured in Classical Singer magazine (2023), and their work has been celebrated in interviews with Interlude classical magazine, Helios Opera “Bright Spots,” Music HERstory Podcast, Parma Recordings, and acclaimed reviews in The Clarinet (International Clarinet Association journal), Clarinet & Saxophone Magazine (Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain journal), The Turnaround (Washington Women in Jazz journal), NACWPI Journal, and Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music. 

Educators at heart, Whistling Hens has been a guest ensemble for the Washington National Opera Institute at The Kennedy Center, teaching arts activism and music business skills. Whistling Hens loves building relationships through residencies, serving as Ensemble in Residence for Collington Retirement Community (2020), Darkwater Women in Music Festival (2021), Smith College (2023), Metropolitan State University (2024), Towson University (2025), and Women Composers Festival of Hartford (2026).

The duo is founded on the knowledge that women have been historically excluded from composing, performing, publishing, and educational opportunities. Whistling Hens’ work invites listeners to reflect on the impact male privilege has had on traditional music programming and question the status quo of gender inequality in the classical music landscape. The Hens combat centuries of gender inequity in classical music through the advocacy and financial support of women composers. 

Whistling Hens has performed and presented at the International Music by Women Festival, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival, Boulanger Initiative’s WoCo Fest, Flute New Music Consortium’s New Music Festival, National Women’s Theatre Festival, International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest, Sam Houston State University Art Song Festival, American Library Association Conference, District New Music Coalition Conference, and College Music Society International, National, and Mid-Atlantic Conferences.

The ensemble has been warmly supported by many “coopies,” as well as by Maryland State Arts Council, North Carolina Arts & Science Council, Awesome Without Borders/The Harnisch Foundation, the M-Cubator Grant for Entrepreneurial Projects, and faculty grants from Queens University of Charlotte, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Georgia College & State University.

When Whistling Hens isn’t busy dismantling the patriarchy in the arts, they are watching reruns of The Golden Girls and thinking of fun punchlines to “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Subscribe to the coopie newsletter to stay in the coop at www.whistlinghens.com. 

Three Reeds and a Horn is a classical music trio comprised of Natalie Groom (founder, clarinet), Kat Robinson (horn), and Qun Ren (bassoon). The group specializes in "flexible" chamber music which can be played by many different combinations of music. The trio explores many genres in their programs, including a mix of classical, contemporary, world, jazz, and tango works of huge emotional breadth.

In three short years, the trio has commissioned twelve works and has performed numerous premieres. The trio is a proponent of "flex" chamber music, music that can be played by many combinations of instruments, and has been a key ensemble in the promotion of Natalie Groom's Flexing the Canon project. The trio's concert programs are typically ~65 minutes without intermission, and programs explore themes such as nature conservation, protecting endangered species, mindfulness, overcoming grief, and finding joy in small and silly things.

A decorated ensemble, Three Reeds and a Horn won second place in 2025 Sadat Music for Justice and Peace Competition in chamber music, and their work has been financially supported by many grants: Society for American Music Sounding the Nation at 250 Grant, Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant, PG County Arts and Humanities Council Artist Fellowship Award, M-Cubator Grant for Innovative Projects, and Towson University DEI Programming grant.

Flexing the Canon is a performing and commissioning project started in 2023 by Natalie Groom. Originating with clarinet, horn, and bassoon trios, the goal is to create more “flexible” classical chamber music where each instrumental part can be substituted with another similar instrument (like clarinet for viola, horn for alto sax, bassoon for cello).

What is flex chamber music? Maybe you’ve heard of flex band pieces, where the parts are “flexible” enough to be played by many combinations of instruments. These are particularly helpful for incomplete or unbalanced instrumentations. This program includes commissions that were initiated to grow this body of repertoire and create unique performance opportunities for students and teachers through “flex” chamber music (flexing the canon). These flexible instrumentations support young programs and smaller schools without the full complement of instruments so that students have the opportunity to play quality chamber repertoire, not just arrangements.

The project has resulted in eight commissions to date, and four more are underway for 2026 season. These flex trios have been shared at the Colombian Ambassador's Residence, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Towson University, University of Maryland College Park, and Maryland Music Educators Association Annual All State Conference.

​Flexing the Canon Goals:

• Commission flexible works accessible to advanced high schoolers and undergraduate chamber students
• Grow the Solo and Ensemble eligible works category to include flex chamber music
• Create new music that is engaging, academic, and encourages arts citizenship through music with a message
• Share flex chamber resources with educators for study and competition 

Repertoire (all commissioned works)

• Ashi Day: Arthropod Suite (2026)
• Peter Dayton: to be sung to you softly (2026)
• Megan DiGeorgio: There is No Away (2023)
• Alexandra Gardner: TBD (2026)
• Natalie Groom: Meditation (2023)
• Rika Ishige: Breath and Notes (2026)
• Jane K: Tango, Encore! (2023)
• Cherise Leiter: Pairings (2025)
• Derek Maseloff: TBD (2026)
• Tyler Mazone: A Tree of Teas (2025)
• Kimberly Osberg: Freaks of Nature (2023)
• Jennifer Stevenson: Listen and Count (2025)

When programming concerts featuring clarinet, horn, and bassoon trios, I discovered mention of a Trio for Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon (1955) by composer Pauline Oliveros. I knew of her incredible historical significance in the field of music history, music technology, and music performance, so I did some digging and could not find any record of this piece being published or performed. It appears to be undiscovered. I contacted the library that houses Oliveros’ archive (UC San Diego Library) and purchased scans of the library collection sheet music (95 pages) that seems to contain the sketches of the Trio.

The purpose of this project is to research/study the manuscript sheet music and engrave, publish, and perform the piece. In order to complete my research, I will travel to California to view the Oliveros collection in person. Some of the archival materials I want to see are not available for remote viewing or scanning. This project is funded by UMBC Dresher Center for the Humanities Summer Fellowships Research Grant.

I am developing two OERs for clarinetists in all of my classes across all degrees, a fingering chart and an altissimo scales book. Though almost nonexistent in classical music, OERs make education more equitable and affordable by removing cost barriers and opening access to high quality learning materials.

I am composing two books of clarinet etudes for isolated left hand and isolated right hand to empower people with performance injuries to keep practicing their craft.

I am composing a quarter tone etude book for clarinet. The point of the etude book is to introduce a new quarter tone fingering in each etude, so after progressing through the book in sequence the player will have learned all of their quarter tones.

The reason this book was started was because most classical music that uses "extended techniques" like quarter tones (the notes between "normal" notes), it is written at a professional difficulty level. This makes the body of repertoire inaccessible to students or even just enthusiasts who would like to explore the fun and unique soundscape of quarter tones.