Celebrity Series of Boston Welcomes Mandolinist Chris Thile Tonight

Celebrity Series of Boston will present mandolinist Chris Thile in concert tonight, October 20, 2013, at 7pm at Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge. Media partner is 99.5 Classical New England.

Tickets for Chris Thile start at $30, and are available online at www.celebrityseries.org, by calling CelebrityCharge at (617) 482-6661 Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., or at the Harvard Box Office, Holyoke Center, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge (617) 496-2222.

This performance marks Mr. Thile's Celebrity Series solo concert debut. He was featured in the Celebrity Series of Boston's performance of "Goat Rodeo Sessions" in 2011.

Chris Thile, of Punch Brothers, is a mandolin virtuoso, composer and vocalist. With his broad outlook that encompasses progressive bluegrass, classical, rock and jazz, Thile creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike.

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 summer 2013, Thile released Bach Sonatas & Partitas Vol. 1, also on Nonesuch Records.

On this new program, he draws from his new Bach recording, while also exploring his own compositions and contemporary music.

The program is approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.

About Celebrity Series of Boston: Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario AaRon Richmond. Over the course of its 75-year history, Celebrity Series has presented an array of the world's greatest performing artists, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arturo Toscanini, Ignace Paderewski, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Andrés Segovia, Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Anderson, Luciano Pavarotti, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Martha Graham, Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the New York City Opera Company.

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 75 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, in schools, at home- everywhere. For more information on Celebrity Series of Boston, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.

Photo Credit: Brantley Gutierrez