Stave Sessions

Cristina Pato is a master of the gaita (Galician bagpipes), a classical pianist, and a passionate educator. She has collaborated with Chicago Symphony, Yo-Yo Ma, Arturo O’Farrill, New York Philharmonic, Paquito D’Rivera and dancers Damian Woetzel and Lil Buck. Hailed as “a virtuosic burst of energy” by the New York Times, Cristina serves as Learning Advisor for Silkroad, and is the founder of the multidisciplinary Galician Connection Festival. Pato is a whirlwind of artistic vitality. Her dynamism and virtuosity make each performance an unforgettable experience.

Theo Bleckmann is a Grammy-nominated jazz singer and new music composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts. He has collaborated with an array of contemporary performers including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Meredith Monk. The Westerlies are a New York-based brass quartet who explore jazz, roots, and chamber music influences to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both "folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music). This Land uses music and texts from Joni Mitchell, Woody Guthrie, Joe Hill, Donald Rumsfeld, and Bertholt Brecht, seeking to balance music’s integral role in protest movements with the power of songs to provide internal solace amidst external turmoil.

Flutist and composer Nathalie Joachim (Eighth Blackbird, Flutronix), brings her infectious passion for music and living tradition to her new concert-length work Fanm d’Ayiti (Women of Haiti). An exploration of Haitian song and of the role of women’s voices in Haitian music culture, Fanm d’Ayiti was nominated for a Grammy for Best World Music Album in 2019. Multi-Grammy nominees, the Spektral Quartet actively pursues a vivid conversation between exhilarating works of the traditional repertoire and those written this decade, this year, or this week. In Fanm d’Ayiti, field recordings, interviews, and personal anecdotes are interwoven to create deep connections and lasting resonance.

Three-time Grammy winner and member of the jazz/world group Snarky Puppy, Mark Lettieri is a guitarist, composer, producer, and instructor based in Fort Worth. In demand across multiple musical genres, Lettieri has logged miles as member of the bands of neo-soul icon Erykah Badu and gospel singer Anthony Evans, and recorded with David Crosby, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Adam Levine. The Mark Lettieri Trio features Wes Stephenson (Funky Knuckles) on bass and Jason “JT” Thomas (Snarky Puppy, Forq) on drums.

Flor de Toloache is a Latin Grammy-winning, New York-based all-female mariachi ensemble known for stretching the boundaries of this rich traditional music into decidedly new places. Flor de Toloache’s soaring vocals and innovative arrangements have won fans worldwide via recent appearances at the Coachella Festival, NPR Tiny Desk Concerts, a 2018 TED Talk, and the 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors.