Described as the premiere banjo player in the world, Béla Fleck will be joined by international diva Oumou Sangaré and her stunning 12-piece Malian band on stage for one amazing night in the Festival Theatre on 9 April.
A New York City native, Béla Fleck first picked up the banjo at age 15 and has made a name for himself on countless solo and ensemble projects as a virtuoso instrumentalist unbounded by genre. Throughout his 30 year career, Béla has won 13 Grammy awards and has earned more diverse Grammy nominations than any other musician in history, including pop, country, bluegrass, jazz, classical, spoken-word, composition and arranging. In 2010 Béla won Grammy awards for ‘Best Pop Instrumental Performance' and ‘Best Contemporary World Music Album' for his latest album Throw Down Your Heart.Throw Down Your Heart is a companion to the award-winning documentary of the same name, which premiered in 2009. Motivated by a deep love of African music, the film follows Béla on a boundary-breaking musical adventure through four African countries: Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia and Mali to explore the little-known African roots of the banjo and record an album. Béla finds common ground with musicians ranging from local villagers to well-known artists such as Oumou Sangaré to create some of the most meaningful music of his career.Videos