Zankel Hall is home to exploration and innovation, and this series has both. Hear wise and witty songs from a master musician, new-music superstars performing a moving work by a Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, and a groundbreaking string quartet that shatters boundaries in fascinating ways.
Chris Thile’s outstanding songwriting skills are given the spotlight on his weekly radio show, Live from Here. For this performance, he is joined by frequent duet partners Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan in favorite installments from the program’s popular “Song of the Week” segment, bringing these songs of “gentle humor and musical imagination” (Uncut) from the airwaves to the stage.
Performers
Chris Thile, Vocals and Mandolin Sarah Jarosz, Vocals, Mandolin, and Octave Mandolin Aoife O’Donovan, Vocals
with Brittany Haas, Fiddle Chris Eldridge, Guitar and Vocals Josh Dion, Drums Alan Hampton, Bass
“The music compels without overstatement,” wrote the Los Angeles Times of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Anthracite Fields. “This is a major, profound work.” Inspired by miners living in the Pennsylvania coal region, Wolfe uses oral histories, interviews with miners and their families, speeches, children’s rhymes, and other sources to create a powerful cantata that speaks of the American worker’s experience. With music that is at times elegiac, hard-driving, and tender, Wolfe creates a soundscape that is deeply moving.
Performers
Bang on a Can All-Stars ·· Ashley Bathgate, Cello and Voice ·· Robert Black, Bass ·· Vicky Chow, Piano and Keyboard ·· David Cossin, Drums and Percussion ·· Mark Stewart, Guitar and Voice ·· Ken Thomson, Clarinets The Choir of Trinity Wall Street Julian Wachner, Conductor
Kronos Quartet spotlights music from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, and Libya—seven predominantly Muslim nations that have figured prominently in current events. Joining Kronos will be Mahsa Vahdat, Iranian vocalist and advocate for freedom of expression. “My goal for Kronos has always been to be a revolutionary force,” says Kronos Artistic Director David Harrington, “not just in making music, but in exploring the ways that music can increase our understanding of our times and our connection to people around the world.”
Proud Season Sponsor