Edgar Meyer News

Soka Performing Arts Center presents Béla Fleck (banjo), Zakir Hussain (tabla), Edgar Meyer (double bass) with Rakesh Chauraisa (bansuri a?" Indian flute) on Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 3pm.

Last night, at their performance in the David Rubenstein Atrium for Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, the award-winning violinist Tessa Lark and virtuoso composer and bassist Michael Thurber  announced the release of Invention, their debut recording as a duo. Invention is anchored by J.S. Bach's Two-Part Inventions and fuses the pair's classical and American music influences into a wholly original sound.

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts recently launched its 2019-2020 Kauffman Center Presents series. This year's diverse lineup includes internationally acclaimed musicians, speakers and artists performing in both Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall. Members of the media now have access to the Kauffman Center's 2019-2020 artist photo album. The album includes media photos of artists and performers for the 2019-2020 season and will be updated as new performers are confirmed throughout the season.

Totem Pole Playhouse, America's summer theatre, located in Caledonia State Park between Gettysburg and Chambersburg, PA has announced the third offering in the Playhouse's new Friday Fun Nights series, Barbi McCulloch's cabaret-style show, Always Find a Song. The Playhouse is offering reserved seating at $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the door.

International Artists Join The Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, New York Philharmonic and More at Festival's 2019 Season through Aug. 4

The first prize of the 34th Annual Irving M. Klein International String Competition, carrying a purse of $13,000, has been awarded to CELLIST JAMES BAIK, 17. The Competition Finals were held Sunday, June 2nd at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and featured four competitors advancing from an original group of nine Semifinal programs the previous day,. Baik's winning program for the final round included movements from Beethoven's Cello Sonata No. 5, op. 102, no. 2; from the Cello Concerto in A minor, op. 129 by Schumann; and from the Bach Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor; as well as the commissioned work Between Worlds by Carlos Simon.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod, presents More Or Less I Am: a music-theater piece drawn entirely from Walt Whitman's revolutionary free verse long poem, 'Song of Myself,'one of the original twelve pieces that comprise his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass. The next performance in this series, spanning multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, will take place on Sunday, May 26, 2019, 7:30 pm at Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn.  

Today, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts announced two performances in the 2019-2020 Kauffman Center Presents series.

As the classical community begins to celebrate Beethoven's 250th anniversary in the 2019-2020 season, the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet kicks off the opening of The Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival on Saturday, June 15, 2019 with an unforgettable journey of the complete Beethoven Cycle. Presenting Six concerts in one week, the Cycle 'provides a musical biography of Beethoven's life, highlighting milestones in his musical development,' notes the Emerson's violinist, Eugene Drucker. The nine-time GRAMMY Award-winning Quartet has firmly established its authority in interpreting Beethoven's string quartets since its first Beethoven Cycle performed in 1980 through its complete recording of his quartets on Deutsche Grammophon which won a 1998 GRAMMY Award. Praised by NPR, their 7-CD boxset of Beethoven: The String Quartets 'highlights their brilliance and sheer ability,' and The Gramophone opines, 'They continually offer new insights into some endlessly enthralling music. Do hear them.'

Hailed as a dream team of performers, longtime musical collaborators and friends, violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Jeremy Denk, will unite this spring 2019 for their first-ever trio tour stoping at The Soraya on May 8. The three artists will perform hallmarks of the trio repertoire in acclaimed venues across the East and West coasts. Though Bell, Isserlis and Denk have previously released the landmark 2016 recording For the Love of Brahms together on Sony Classical, these performances mark the first occasions in which they will tour live as an ensemble. The Brahms album has been praised as Absolutely essential listening for the classical fan well-crafted, flawless killer stuff.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the nonprofit cultural center located at the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival in Bethel, N.Y., today announced that  Multiple Grammy Award-winner and MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile will perform in the intimate, indoor Event Gallery on Saturday, September 21st as part of the center's Vibrations series. Reserved seating tickets will go on-sale to the general public on Friday, April 19th at 10:00 AM at www.BethelWoodsCenter.org, www.Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at 1.800.745.3000.

The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis announces its 18th season of performing arts, filled with the leading artists in music, dance and theater alongside an insightful group of speakers. The season begins on Sunday, September 29, with a family-friendly performance from gospel true-believers Trey McLaughlin & The Sounds of Zamar and concludes June 7, 2020 with the Alexander String Quartet finishing a two-year cycle of the complete Shostakovich string quartets.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod,celebrates the bicentennial of the birth of America's most influential poet, Walt Whitman, with a revival of their acclaimed production More Or Less I Am. Performances begin May 18, 2019 at multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, with most performances being free and open to the public. More information can be found at www.colombari.org.

Steeped in old-school swing, Latin jazz, funk and Ray Charlesian soul-blues, bristling with hotshot soloists, the Christian McBride Big Band has redefined the sound of big band music for the 21st Century.  Now, iconic jazz bassist, composer and arranger, Christian McBride, brings to The Soraya stage his 17-piece nsemble for one-night only on Friday, April 26 at 8pm. 

Appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon and one of the greatest musicians of our time, Zakir Hussain is a classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order. In Masters of Percussion, the Grammy-winning Hussain leads a mesmerizing ensemble of masters in Indian classical music including the astonishing Niladri Kumar on sitar, the peerless Eric Harland on Western drums, and the Kerala Drummers from the southwestern coast of India.

Simply stated, Zakir Hussain is one of the greatest musicians of our time. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have led to historic collaborations with Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar; Planet Drum with Mickey Hart; Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, and recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Mark Morris and Pharoah Sanders.

Carnegie Hall's citywide festival, Migrations: The Making of America kicks off with Live from Here with Chris Thile on Saturday, March 9 at 5:45 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Debs Composer's Chair Chris Thile is joined by Grammy Award-winning banjo player Béla Fleck, renowned bassist Edgar Meyer, multi-award winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, and Irish-American singer and songwriter Aoife O'Donovan for an evening of traditional Scots, Irish, and American folk music.

A double bass, which plays the lowest notes of a string orchestra, stands more than 6 feet tall. William McGregor began playing double bass when he was only 2 years old.

The Bravo! Vail Music Festival announces its 2019 season, a star-studded celebration of innovations, premieres, and world-class artistry. The Festival opens on June 20 and includes more than 80 concerts and community engagement events in venues throughout the Vail Valley.