Savannah Music Festival

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 503 - Schubert Quintet

2012-05-07T19:33:07Z

The only documentation from Franz Schubert's life concerning his great string string quintet - one of the masterpieces of the chamber music literature - is a letter from 1828 written by the composer just a month before his untimely death at the age of 31. In it, he asked his publisher when he might be able to hear the quintet, a work that author Thomas Mann felt was the music one would most want to hear when taking leave of this earth. Tune in for a 2012 Savannah Music Festival performance of this incredible work performed by the Takacs Quartet with cellist Josephine Knight.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 502 - Kenny Barron

2012-05-07T19:03:26Z

Philadelphia has been the birthplace of many great jazz musicians, including many masters of jazz. By the late 1920s, players such as Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti had put Phillip on the jazz map, followed later by Stan Getz and a jazz scene in the 1950s that would include the Heath Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, John Coltrane, Benny Golson and Philly Joe Jones, just to name a few. One local kid who fell in love with jazz while still in high school and gradually made a name for himself is none other than pianist Kenny Barron, who at age 68, is playing his finest music ever. Tune in to hear a 2012 solo recital given by Mr. Barron at the Savannah Music Festival.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 501 - Simon Crawford-Phillips

2012-05-07T18:58:10Z

Musical recitals offer listeners the opportunity to hear a collection of pieces selected by the performer. Such an occasion might feature the works of either a single composer, or a group of compositions that, when combined, illuminate a central theme or moment in time. During our 2012 festival, pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips gave a recital that was centered around "storytelling." He included works by Schumann and Chopin, Romantic period composers who developed two of the forms of the era, including miniature character pieces and longer more rhetorical structures. Tune in to hear Mr. Crawford-Phillips performing works by Schumann, Janacek and Chopin during the 2012 Savannah Music Festival.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 455 - Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, 2012

2012-05-07T18:53:06Z

As the concept of a jazz orchestra approaches nearly 90 years of existence, the big bands still around and touring with their own style and identity are few and far between. One group that has persisted in sustaining an international presence, while extending and refining the tradition, continues to be lead by a man that has never backed down in his quest to clarify our American mythology through the lens of jazz. Tune in for a March 1, 2012 performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis from our SMF Live concert series.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 449 - Marcus Roberts Trio with Bela Fleck

2012-05-07T18:44:27Z

The history of the banjo in jazz dates back to the earliest ensembles of the 20th century in New Orleans, when banjo players were occasionally the star of the band. Over the next 100 years, however, the banjo changed within American musical culture, gradually falling out of favor as a primary instrument within a jazz band. In the spring of 2011, the Savannah Music Festival premiered a project featuring banjoist Bela Fleck with pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio. The results proved that the banjo has always been a wonderful solo instrument in jazz, particularly in the hands of a great improvisor like Bela Fleck. Tune in to hear Marcus Roberts on piano, Jason Marsalis on drums, Rodney Jordan on bass and Bela Fleck on banjo, live from Savannah in their debut performance together.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 448 - Leif Ove Andsnes

2012-05-07T18:37:11Z

To describe a classical pianist as thoughtful, modest and dedicated to his craft would almost make him/her seem unexciting. Yet those traits aptly describe one of the most commanding and consummate pianists of our time, Norwegian Leif Ove Ansdnes. In February of 2012, Mr. Andsnes played with exhilaration, creativity and elegance during a recital produced by the Savannah Music Festival as part of the off-season concert series, SMF Live. In this program, we'll listen to highlights of the recital including Haydn's rarely heard Sonata No. 33 in C minor, three pieces from Debussy's "Images" Book 1 and several works by Chopin.

Savannah Music Festival LIVE - 444 - Tim O'Brien Band

2012-05-07T18:31:07Z

Old-time American music has always resided comfortably next to classic country, folk and bluegrass. Fans of these styles have always known they can count on a superb blend of them when listening to Tim O'Brien, who has spent the last three decades expanding the possibilities of acoustic music. In 2011, Tim O'Brien brought an all-star quartet to the Savannah Music Festival, featuring Bryan Sutton on guitar, Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Mike Bub on bass. Tune in to hear excerpts from their three exceptional 2011 sets in Savannah.

BLOW MY BLUES AWAY: LUCKY PETERSON BAND/JOE KROWN TRIO FEAT. WALTER "WOLFMAN" WASHINGTON AND RUSSELL BATISTE, JR.

2012-04-07T22:30:00Z

Closing out SMF 2012 with a unique two-night SMF double-bill, Lucky Peterson brings his own band this time around. Discovered by blues giant Willie Dixon when he was three years old, Lucky released his first record at five and soon after appeared on The Tonight Show before going on to play behind Little Milton, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Kenny Neal. The New Yorker dubbed him "a master of the guitar, organ and microphone," and whether playing B-3, singing soul classics or delivering heart-wrenching country blues on slide guitar, he is the consummate showman.

The Joe Krown Trio features three of the Crescent City's most revered musicians. Hammond B-3 specialist Joe Krown spent a decade and a half as keyboardist for Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Walter "Wolfman" Washington's searing guitar work and soulful vocals have helped define the unique New Orleans musical hybrid of R&B, funk and the blues since the 1970s. Drummer Russell Batiste, Jr. played for years with the Funky Meters, and recently collaborated with Paige McConnell (Phish) and Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers) in the acclaimed funk/jam trio Vida Blue.

"(Lucky Peterson)......incredible blues vocals...insanely lively guitar...it's amazing." -USA Today

ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA W/ MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYAYEFIM BRONFMAN, SOLOIST

2012-04-07T19:00:00Z

Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83

The seventh consecutive SMF appearance by the acclaimed Atlanta Symphony Orchestra involves guest conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the return of pianist Yefim Bronfman. Mr. Bronfman is widely regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals or his prestigious orchestral engagements.

BLOW MY BLUES AWAY: LUCKY PETERSON BAND/JOE KROWN TRIO FEAT. WALTER "WOLFMAN" WASHINGTON AND RUSSELL BATISTE, JR.

2012-04-07T01:00:00Z

Closing out SMF 2012 with a unique two-night SMF doublebill, Lucky Peterson brings his own band this time around. Discovered by blues giant Willie Dixon when he was three years old, Lucky released his first record at five and soon after appeared on The Tonight Show before going on to play behind Little Milton, Bobby "Blue" Bland and Kenny Neal. The New Yorker dubbed him "a master of the guitar, organ and microphone," and whether playing B-3, singing soul classics or delivering heart-wrenching country blues on slide guitar, he is the consummate showman.

The Joe Krown Trio features three of the Crescent City's most revered musicians. Hammond B-3 specialist Joe Krown spent a decade and a half as keyboardist for Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Walter "Wolfman" Washington's searing guitar work and soulful vocals have helped define the unique New Orleans musical hybrid of R&B, funk and the blues since the 1970s. Drummer Russell Batiste, Jr. played for years with the Funky Meters, and recently collaborated with Paige McConnell (Phish) and Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers) in the acclaimed funk/jam trio Vida Blue.

"(Lucky Peterson)......incredible blues vocals...insanely lively guitar...it's amazing." -USA Today

BLOW MY BLUES AWAY: LUCKY PETERSON BAND/JOE KROWN TRIO FEAT. WALTER "WOLFMAN" WASHINGTON AND RUSSELL BATISTE, JR.

2012-04-06T22:30:00Z

BRUCE MOLSKY, FIDDLE/BANJO

2012-04-06T17:00:00Z

Bruce Molsky stands today as the premier old-time fiddler in the world, the defining virtuoso of Appalachia's timeless folk music traditions. In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, and Mozaik, with Hungarian Nikola Parov, and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He was on Nickel Creek's farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden's great Ale Möller.

"The Rembrandt of Appalachian fiddle." - Darol Anger, fiddler

"There's an incredible power of history and tradition in his vocals." - Linda Ronstadt, singer

MUSIC AT 11: DANIEL HOPE & L'ARTE DEL MONDO, PROGRAM III

2012-04-06T15:00:00Z

Mozart Divertimento in D Major, KV 136
Bach Concerto for two Violins and Strings in D minor, BWV 1043
Frederick the Great: from Concerto No. 1 in G Major: Allegro
Mozart Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 12 in A Major, KV 414

In their third and final program during the first-ever visit to the U.S, the chamber music orchestra "L'arte del mondo" performs an 11am concert showcasing Mozart's outstanding A-Major Piano Concerto (KV 414), with acclaimed fortepiano specialist Kristian Bezuidenhout as soloist. Also on the concert is a rarely heard concerto by the 18th century Prussian King/Composer, Frederick the Great. SMF Associate Artistic Director Daniel Hope also teams up with L'arte del mondo's Andrea Keller to play one of Bach's most famous works, his Double Violin Concerto, in this one-time only event.

Daniel Hope, violin
Kristian Bezuidenhout, pianoforte
Andrea Keller, violin (BWV 1043)
L'arte del mondo, chamber orchestra
Werner Ehrhardt, Concertmaster & Artistic Director

BLAZING BANJOS: TONY TRISCHKA & BRUCE MOLSKY/ABIGAIL WASHBURN

2012-04-06T00:30:00Z

This SMF original double-bill features the formidable duo of Tony Trischka and Bruce Molsky. In a career that has now encompassed four decades, acclaimed banjo innovator Tony Trischka has created an endless array of new possibilities for the five-string banjo. While he has mastered nearly every element of the instrument's stylistic history‚ Äîfrom old-time modal clawhammer to the most intricate melodic modern styles‚ it was folk music initially, and bluegrass music in particular, that first drew him to the banjo. Bruce Molsky stands today as the world's premier old-time fiddler and one of the defining virtuosos of Appalachia's timeless folk music traditions. In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting super-groups and artists such as the Fiddlers Four, Mozaik, Nikola Parov, and Donal Lunny.

The other half of this program showcases banjoist/vocalist Abigail Washburn. If American old-time music is about taking earlier, simpler ways of life and music-making as one's model, Abigail Washburn has proven herself to be a bracing revelation to that tradition. As a singer, songwriter, and clawhammer banjo player every bit as interested in the present and the future as she is in the past, she pairs venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, and the results feel both strangely familiar and unlike anything anybody's ever heard before. Audiences who
heard her at SMF 2007 with the acclaimed all-female, old-time stringband Uncle Earl and again in 2009 with the Sparrow Quartet (Béla Fleck, Casey Dreissen and Ben Sollee) are in for a different treat this time, as Abby's sound has continued to evolve.

"Ms. Washburn's enigmatic songs mingle Appalachia and folk-pop, with tinges of Asia and Bruce Springsteen. Eventually, the route leads home: to a mountain gospel hymn."
-The New York Times

BLAZING BANJOS: TONY TRISCHKA & BRUCE MOLSKY/ABIGAIL WASHBURN

2012-04-05T22:00:00Z

This SMF original double-bill features the formidable duo of Tony Trischka and Bruce Molsky. In a career that has now encompassed four decades, acclaimed banjo innovator Tony Trischka has created an endless array of new possibilities for the five-string banjo. While he has mastered nearly every element of the instrument's stylistic history‚Äîfrom old-time modal clawhammer to the most intricate melodic modern styles‚ it was folk music initially, and bluegrass music in particular, that first drew him to the banjo. Bruce Molsky stands today as the world's premier old-time fiddler and one of the defining virtuosos of Appalachia's timeless folk music traditions. In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting super-groups and artists such as the Fiddlers Four, Mozaik, Nikola Parov, and Donal Lunny.

The other half of this program showcases banjoist/vocalist Abigail Washburn. If American old-time music is about taking earlier, simpler ways of life and music-making as one's model, Abigail Washburn has proven herself to be a bracing revelation to that tradition. As a singer, songwriter, and clawhammer banjo player every bit as interested in the present and the future as she is in the past, she pairs venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, and the results feel both strangely familiar and unlike anything anybody's ever heard before. Audiences who
heard her at SMF 2007 with the acclaimed all-female, old-time stringband Uncle Earl and again in 2009 with the Sparrow Quartet (Béla Fleck, Casey Dreissen and Ben Sollee) are in for a different treat this time, as Abby's sound has continued to evolve.

"Ms. Washburn's enigmatic songs mingle Appalachia and folk-pop, with tinges of Asia and Bruce Springsteen. Eventually, the route leads home: to a mountain gospel hymn."
-The New York Times