MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile to Play Columbus' Southern Theatre, 10/14

Mandolin virtuoso and composer Chris Thile, a multiple-Grammy Award winner and a MacArthur Fellow, has long been known as an audacious improviser and a tireless collaborator whose work has incorporated bluegrass, folk, rock, jazz, and classical elements. Besides his brilliant bandmates in Punch Brothers, his fellow travelers have also included pianist Brad Mehldau, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, guitarist Michael Daves, and double bassist/composer Edgar Meyer, among others. On this new program, he draws from his new Bach recording, while also exploring his own compositions and contemporary music.

CAPA presents Chris Thile at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.) on Monday, October 14, at 8 pm. Tickets are $30 at the CAPA Ticket Center(39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone, please call (614) 469-0939 or (800) 745-3000.

This performance is made possible through the generous support of 2013-14 season sponsor American Airlines.

Recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (aka "genius grant") in February 2013, Thile also won a Grammy for his work on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan. Punch Brothers, described by The Times of London as, "brilliant, audacious, original and, above all, entertaining," released their latest album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, in 2012 on Nonesuch Records. In Spring 2013, Thile released Bach Sonatas & Partitas Vol. 1, also on Nonesuch Records.

The prodigious Thile was a member of groundbreaking trio Nickel Creek at the age of eight. By the time he was 12, he already had a solo recording contract with Sugar Hill. It was four years later when he serendipitously discovered Bach, thanks to birthday gifts from his maternal grandmother and step-grandmother, each of whom independently gave him Bach recordings. He didn't have any bold scheme to transpose these violin pieces to mandolin at first; he was simply using the instrument he knew best.

Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1 comprises three works written for solo violin-Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001; Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002; and Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003. While Thile has often included pieces by Bach in his live repertoire, alongside his own work and his interpretations of work by artists ranging from Bill Monroe to Radiohead, this disc, produced by his friend and mentor Meyer, fulfills a long-held dream to create studio recordings of these pieces rendered on mandolin. Thile says the recording sessions were an opportunity "to interact with the greatest musician who ever lived."

Photo credit: Danny Clinch