SOUNDS
Samples from our first recording, Glaz.
Take 6 - Ridée 6 temps
Pilé Menu - Ti Couz (evit Sylvie)
QUEEN AMANN BRETON MUSIC SEATTLE WA
Tradiboudibe - Pach Pi
An Deiziou Kaer - Hanter Dro
Mari Bonbon - Andro
Percolateur - Ronds de Landéda
PLAY MUSIC WITH US
We’re musicians based in Seattle, WA who play Breton Fest Noz (Night Party) music, with a dose of jazz, rock, and other sounds. Fest Noz is an ideal platform for expression, composition, and experimentation. The band is structured around a full-time duo and guests and part-time members brought in for gigs and recordings to a larger or smaller degree, depending on whatever is mutually agreeable. We/you are: a solid musician, friendly, inquisitive, relatively disciplined, interested in performing and recording. We work along these lines: everyone pulls their weight musically, and respect, kindness, and professional honesty are the norm. Jazz & rock chops a plus. Although we can be silly at times, we’re not goofing around.
What instruments: Just about any instrument that could hold their own in a jazz, rock, klezmer, or balkan combo…
Breton music: Not familiar? We have a downloadable playlist of genre material - just ask.
Scores: We develop scores (with sound files) using MuseScore, which is free and available for Linux, Mac, and Windows.
NEWS
HIATUS
We were on hiatus for much of 2025, with availability constrained by increased external demands as well as repair/maintenance situations for some of our most irreplaceable instruments. This year, if all things go well, we look forward to starting the musical ball rolling again with the release of our first recording and the beginning of a new project and expanded lineup.
INVITÉS GREAT AND SMALL
The band currently has two full-time members and a small group of invited contributors ranging from almost-full-time to occasional. With the time-honored Breton duo format as the heart of the band, we work with high-quality musical collaborators at whatever quantity is mutually agreeable; from a guest on a single recording track or one tune in a performance to part- or even full-time band members.
SONA GREENBERG
(Chromatic Accordion, Fender Rhodes Piano) spent years as a jazz pianist and symphonic oboist but found the accordion in her group The Splendour Girls. Her musicianship and phenomenal talent with composition and arrangement are essential ingredients in our sound.
RON REED
(tarogato, bombard, clarinet) plays the bombard (the powerful Breton oboe); the tarogato, a single-reed instrument that beautifully combines aspects of the sax and the oboe; and the ‘treujenn gaol’ or clarinet. Ron’s sound has been inspired by masters such as Jean-Claude Petit, Youenn Le Bihan, Dumitru Fărcaș, and Olivier Urvoy.
ABOUT US / AR STROLLAD
Queen Amann performs Fest Noz (Night Party) music with daring and imagination. We are passionate about creating intense, beautiful, noteworthy music. ‘Queen Amann’ is a light-hearted bilingual pun on the delicious Breton pastry ‘kouign amann’ (butter cake), inspired by a humorous ad for a Breton language class. The duo at the heart of the band, Sona Greenberg (chromatic accordion) and Ron Reed (Woodwinds), are joined by invités on performances and recordings.
Queen Amann est un phénomène atypique dans le monde de la musique bretonne. Peu connue aux États-Unis, la musique bretonne est généralement interprétée de manière superficielle ou comme du « cosplay celtique ». Spécialisés dans le festoù-noz, nous jouons un répertoire de musique traditionnelle et composée, aux arrangements sophistiqués et puissants.
Queen Amann zo ur strollad divoas e bed sonerezh Breizh. Dre ma n'eo ket gwall vrudet sonerezh Breizh en Amerika, ne vez ket sonet alies gant an nebeud strolladoù a anavez anezhi. Ar sonerezh-se eo plad pennañ ar Queen Amann, ha kempouezañ a reont o tonioù gant soutilded ha nerzh. Degas a reont da soñj ez eo ken pouezus ha ken liesseurt sonerezh Breizh ha doareoù sonerezh a zo brudet er bed a-bezh, evel ar rock pe ar jazz.