[dcab-l] Fwd: Second Bela Fleck/Brooklyn Rider show added 11/23 at 9:30 p.m.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brenda Tabor <btabor@WPAS.org>

Date: November 11, 2013 3:16:38 PM EST

To: Brenda Tabor <btabor@WPAS.org>

Subject: Second Bela Fleck/Brooklyn Rider show added 11/23 at 9:30 p.m.

 

 

For Immediate Release:                                                                                      Press Contact: Brenda Kean Tabor

November 11, 2013                                                                                                                                                                        202-533-1886

                                                                                                                                                                                     btabor@wpas.org

MEDIA ALERT

 

Due to high demand, Béla Fleck and Brooklyn Rider will present a second, 9:30 p.m. performance on Saturday, November 23 at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. Tickets are available athttp://www.wpas.org/calendar/view.aspx?id=2474 or by calling 202-785-9727.

 

See below for more program details.

 

Multiple Grammy Award-winning

banjo player Béla Fleck and

string quartet Brooklyn Rider join forces at

Sixth & I Historic Synagogue November 23

 

Washington, D.C. – Known for integrating smooth jazz with contemporary bluegrass banjo work, the extraordinarily talented and versatile Béla Fleck performs banjo with the equally adventurous Brooklyn Rider string quartet at Sixth &I Historic Synagogue on November 23. The program is anchored by Night Flight On Water, Fleck's newly-composed quintet for banjo and string quartet, as well as works from Brooklyn Rider's signature repertoire, solo music by Fleck, and other collaborative surprises. Night Flight On Water is featured on The Imposter, Fleck's first Deutsche Grammophon release, issued on August 13, 2013. The music's creation followed an unusual path from conception to birth.

                After collaborating with bass player Edgar Meyer in the early 1980s on a work for the Blair String Quartet, and then meeting Brooklyn Rider, Fleck recognized the group's youthful sensibility to music has many influences from outside of classical music. Fleck started writing Night Flight Over Water by composing a dozen or so sketches which he brought to Brooklyn Rider thinking they would select some that worked out for their combination of instruments. However, says Fleck,  "these guys were so good that they made everything I had come up with sound amazing."           

                Fleck is known as the world's premier banjo player and has pushed the boundaries of the instrument's repertoire beyond bluegrass, winning numerous Grammies including the 2011 Grammy for Best Contemporary World Music Album and the 2012 Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition. Fleck has been nominated for Grammies in more categories than any other performer. Mixing the classics with the contemporary, an interest in music from other cultures and the occasional combination of acoustic and electronic sound, Brooklyn Rider "stands out for its…globe-spanning stylistic range, do-it-yourself gumption and integration of standard repertory works into the mix," says The New York Times. Said NPR's Fred Child, "All classically trained to within an inch of their lives, Brooklyn Rider is recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble."

                Born in 1958, Béla Fleck was named for Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Fleck started playing banjo when he was 15 at the New York City High School of Music and Art. Following a move to Boston, Fleck joined the Tasty Licks before releasing his first solo album in 1979 after which he performed with Sam Bush's Newgrass Revival and his own Spectrum: The Band.

            The 1988 Grammy Best Bluegrass Album nomination for his solo album Drive led him to start the Flecktones with bassist Victor Wooten, harmonica player Howard Levy, and percussionist Roy Wooten. Levy would eventually leave the band, to be replaced by Jeff Coffin on the saxophone.

            Fleck's collaborative inclinations have led him to record with artists ranging from the Dave Matthews Band to all-girl band Uncle Earl and Tony Trischka. Fleck has made 11 solo records and 12 albums with the Flecktones and has performed on at least 25 other recordings with performers like Chick Corea, Edgar Meyer, Zakir Hussain, fellow banjo player and wife Abigail Washburn and others.

                Described by Time Out New York as an ensemble that "demystifies contemporary classical music and invites everyone into the tent," Brooklyn Rider has played in venues as varied as Joe's Pub in New York City, the Todai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan, and the San Francisco Jazz Festival.  Equally devoted to the interpretation of existing quartet literature as to the creation of new works, they have worked with numerous composers such as Derek Bermel, Lisa Bielawa, Ljova, Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, Jenny Scheinman and Dimitry Yanov-Yanovsky. A frequent part of Brooklyn Rider's programming also involves works written or arranged by members of the group.

                Brooklyn Rider's 2013-14 season features multiple collaborative concerts with Fleck as well as other performances throughout the Untted States, China and Taiwan.  The group's 2012–13 season built on its commitment to new repertoire as well as fresh interpretations of established pieces with works by Stravinsky, Bartók, and Gabriel Kahane, as well as world premieres by Colin Jacobsen, Shara Worden, Vijay Iyer and John Zorn and stops at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where the quartet continued its three-year residency and participated in UNC's "Rite of Spring at 100" series. Brooklyn Rider also participated in the premiere of a new work by Kahane at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, as well as WQXR's "Beethoven Remix" at the Greene Space. Brooklyn Rider also began its ongoing project "The Brooklyn Rider Almanac," for which it commissions composers from various genres to write short, art-inspired works for string quartet. Commissioned composers included Nik Bärtsch, Padma Newsome, Greg Saunier, Ethan Iverson and Bill Frisell.

WPAS performances at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue are made possible by the Abramson Family Foundation and by an anonymous gift in appreciation of Douglas Wheeler's continuing efforts on behalf of WPAS.

Downloadable high-resolution images are available from btabor@wpas.org.

Funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by National Endowment for the Arts.

Considered one of the country's leading presenters of the performing arts and recipient of the 2012 National Medal of the Arts, Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS) was established in the nation's capital by the legendary impresario Patrick Hayes. Throughout its 48-year history, WPAS has created profound opportunities for connecting the community to artists, both in education and performance. The mission of the Washington Performing Arts Society is threefold:

1) to provide the Washington community with performing arts presentations of the highest quality and of varied content and tradition; 2) to support and nurture performing artists and their art forms; and 3) to provide lifelong learning opportunities through arts education, youth involvement, and community partnerships.

 

# # # #

 

 

Best regards,

 

Brenda

 

Brenda Kean Tabor

Publicist

Washington Performing Arts Society

2000 L Street, N.W. Suite 510

Washington, D.C. 20036

btabor@wpas.org

PH: 202-533-1886

FAX: 202.331.7678
www.wpas.org
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