(For Immediate Release—March 22, 2021) Celebrity Series of Boston announces the daily lineup of its Stave Sessions contemporary music festival. Stave Sessions unwinds over three evenings in a new streaming festival format from April 21-23 with the full slate of performances receiving a full-run encore presentation on Saturday, April 24. Featuring musical trailblazers, this series brings the excitement of live performances into homes around the world.
Highlighting musicians who take diverse approaches to their music, integrating musical training and non-conforming styles to deliver performances that defy standard labels, the seven performers included were all slated to perform on Stave Sessions in the spring of 2020 or 2021.
TICKET INFORMATION:
New this year, audience members can select their own ticket price!
Link to learn more and purchase tickets: https://www.celebrityseries.org/live-performances/stave-sessions/
In addition to the fee each artist is paid for their performance, all ticket proceeds will be distributed equally to the artists performing in the festival.
STAVE SESSIONS DAILY LINEUP:
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Sybarite5 with special guest Ehsan Matoori | 7:30pm ET
Cristina Pato | 8:15pm ET
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Meklit | 7:30pm ET
Kinan Azmeh CityBand | 8:10pm ET
Friday, April 23, 2021
Sid Sriram | 7:30pm ET
Spektral Quartet | 8pm ET
Mark Lettieri Group | 8:40pm ET
Saturday, April 24, 2021 (full encore presentation)
Cristina Pato | 5pm ET
Sybarite5 with special guest Ehsan Matoori | 5:40pm ET
Kinan Azmeh CityBand | 6:20pm ET
Meklit | 7:10pm ET
Spektral Quartet | 7:50pm ET
Sid Sriram | 8:30pm ET
Mark Lettieri Group | 9pm ET
all individual performance start times listed above are approximations
STAVE SESSIONS ARTISTS:
Cristina Pato is a master of the Galician bagpipes, a classical pianist, and a passionate educator. In 1999, Cristina Pato became the first female gaita player to release a solo album, and has collaborated with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Arturo O’Farrill, New York Philharmonic, Paquito D’Rivera, Damian Woetzel, and Lil’ Buck. She serves as Learning Advisor for Silkroad, has been an artist-in-residence at a number of universities, and is the founder of the multidisciplinary Galician Connection Festival. Pato is a whirlwind of artistic vitality and her dynamism and virtuosity make each performance an unforgettable experience.
In this program titled “Inbetweener,” Pato explores the in between areas of musical worlds and cultures. With Roberto Comesaña on accordion and piano, the performance highlights traditional Galician music as well as works by Alberto Ginastera, Astor Piazzolla, Miles Davis, Manuel Figueroa Moreira, and original works by Pato and Comesaña.
Kinan Azmeh CityBand: Kinan Azmeh, clarinetist and composer, has gained international recognition for his rich sound and distinctive compositional voice across diverse musical genres. A native of Syria and a graduate of New York’s Juilliard School, Azmeh has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic and the Syrian Symphony Orchestra among others.
Memories of Azmeh’s home city of Damascus influence the compositions on this contemplative program which honors life, love, and the sense of home. This concert features clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, guitarist Kyle Sanna and bassist Josh Myers from Kinan Azmeh CityBand.
Mark Lettieri Group, led by Mark Lettieri, the GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist, composer, producer, and instructor, and member of the jazz/world group Snarky Puppy. In demand across multiple musical genres, Lettieri has been in 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, among others.
In this rocking evening of music recorded at the Guitar Sanctuary in McKinney, Texas, the Mark Lettieri Group blends blues, jazz, rock, and funk for an experience that will hit your soul with their show-stopping performance. The Mark Lettieri Quartet features Mark Lettieri on guitar, Wes Stephenson on bass, Jason “JT” Thomas on drums, and Daniel Porter on keyboard.
Meklit is an Ethio-American vocalist, songwriter, composer, and cultural activist, making music that sways between cultures and continents. Known for her electric stage presence, innovative take on Ethio-Jazz, and her emotive live shows, Meklit has rocked stages from Addis Ababa to San Francisco, to NYC, London, Montreal, Nairobi, Rome, Zurich, Helsinki, Rio, Cairo, and more. Meklit is a National Geographic Explorer, a TED Senior Fellow and a 2019 Artist-in-Residence at both Harvard University and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
In this concert, recorded at Studio 124 in the Mission District of San Francisco, Meklit looks to her early days as a San Francisco songwriter and organizer for inspiration, back when it was just her and a guitar, and an intimate room of people sharing songs and stories. This digital experience draws you into a different, more intimate side of Meklit, who has grown into a band leader with an electric stage presence and outsized personality. Here, she reminds us that a strum and melody are all you need to sing your truth into the world.
Sid Sriram, a singer/songwriter/producer born in Chennai, India, but raised in the United States, represents an intersection of very different worlds. After graduating from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Production and Engineering, he began building a style where Tamil, R&B, blues, gospel, pop and Carnatic music clash and blend vibrantly. Sriram’s music is built on a foundation of South Indian Classical (Carnatic) music, with influences from Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Jeff Buckley, The Beatles and Luther Vandross.
In this performance recorded at Offbeat Studios in Chennai, India, Sid Sriram and his ensemble feature South Indian carnatic music and Sriram’s own compositions. Featured on this performance are: Sid Sriram (vocals), Leon James (keyboards), Patri Satish Kumar (mridangam), Dr. S Karthick (ghatam).
Spektral Quartet actively pursues a vivid conversation between exhilarating works of the past and the extraordinary works of today. Invited to take the stage at notable venues such as the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, American Academy in Rome, and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, the quartet is also in demand for residencies at leading music schools around the country. Distinguished by its stylistic versatility, Spektral Quartet enjoys collaborations with artists such as Theaster Gates, Miguel Zenón, and Nathalie Joachim, and frequently commissions new work from composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and George Lewis. Currently a digital artist-in-residence at the University Musical Society (University of Michigan), Spektral was named “Chicagoans of the Year 2017” by the Chicago Tribune.
In this thrilling sonic adventure, Spektral travels from 16th century Spain to present-day Chicago. String arrangements of indie-pop stands next to electronic-grooves and music commissioned by the Spektral Quartet by contemporary composers. Drawing listeners across the centuries, this intimate performance explores works by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Arthur Russell, Sufjan Stevens, Samuel Adams, and Tomeka Reid.
Sybarite5 with special guest Ehsan Matoori: From Visconti to Vrebalov and Coltrane to Radiohead, Sybarite5’s eclectic repertoire and commanding performances are turning heads throughout the music world. With Iranian santoor virtuoso Ehsan Matoori, the wide-ranging program highlights works from Sybarite5’s decade-long commitment to commissioning new music with pieces by Kenji Bunch and Daniel Bernard Romain, Ehsan Matoori’s own compositions, and string arrangements of songs by John Coltrane, Marc Mellits, and Punch Brothers.
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Stave Sessions is sponsored by Susan & Michael Thonis and the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative.
Additional support is provided by Kathleen & Chris Gaffney, Michael & Debra Raizman, Yukiko Ueno & Eran Egozy, Randolph Hawthorne & Carliss Baldwin, and Marylen Sternweiler.
Stave Sessions is made possible in part by support from Celebrity Series' LIVE PERFORMANCE! Arts for All Innovation Funds.
About Celebrity Series of Boston
Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers–from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more–to Boston’s major concert halls for 82 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience—on stages, on streets, in neighborhoods–everywhere.
Celebrity Series of Boston is grateful to our 2020-21 Season Sponsors Amy & Joshua Boger and to the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies whose support helps fulfill our mission to present performing artists who inspire and enrich our community. Individual and Institutional supporters include the Barr Foundation through its ArtsAmplified initiative, Leslie & Howard Appleby, Stephanie L. Brown Foundation, The Catered Affair, Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp., First Republic Bank, Foley & Lardner LLP, Liberty Mutual Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Outside the Box: A Production of the Boston Arts Summer Institute, Cynthia & John S. Reed Foundation, Royal Little Family Foundation, Stifler Family Foundation, Anonymous, and many others.
Press Contact: Stephanie Janes, stephanie at stephaniejanespr dot com
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