Saturday, June 22, 7:30 pm
ZAL IDRISSA SISSOKHO AND BUNTALO
play Kora music of West Africa
Zal Idrissa Sissokho, kora and vocals, David Mobio, keyboard, Guy Langue, bass Ehui Thomas Niamke, drums

For Zal Idrissa Sissokho music is about reminding us of who we are, keeping us connected to our history, and sharing between cultures. Sissokho is from Senegal in West Africa but has lived in Montreal since 1999. He comes from a family of griots, the African storytellers who transmit the tradition and history of the Mande Empire from one generation to the next. Sissokho has performed internationally both solo and with his band Buntalo.

“The kora is an interesting instrument. In the tradition, it is played for the Kings.  But today, the kora has become one of the most revolutionary instruments. You find it in every style in the music in the world. You can find it in jazz, in Afro-Manding, Afro-Brazilian, hip-hop, Samba, salsa…” - Zal Idrissa Sissokho

“Zal Idrissa Sissokho, the Senegales kora player and singer, and his Buntalo quintet delivered a shimmering set of music that ranged from traditional chants to original Afro-funk. The rippling arpeggios Sissokho plucked on his 21-string West African harp felt like cooling water.” Alexander Varty and Tony Montague, Straight Notes

Tickets: $ 30/$25 members/$18 students

Click here for more on Zal Idrissa
Click here to see Zal Idrissa Sissokho in performance

Saturday, June 29, 7:30 pm
TONY TRISCHKA TERRITORY
Tony Trischka, banjo, Darol Anger, fiddle Michael Daves, guitar

Tony Trischka is perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world. For more than 35 years, his stylings have inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians. He has performed and recorded with everyone from Steve Martin to Doc Watson to the Boston Pops. His recording Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular received IBMA awards for Recorded Event of the Year, Instrumental Album of the Year and a Grammy Nomination. With his fearless musical curiosity as the guiding force, Tony Trischka's latest elease, Territory roams widely through the banjo's creative terrain.

Darol Anger is a fiddle guru, who spent three decades reinventing American string music to encompass his explorations of bluegrass, jazz, and music from around the world. He co-founded the David Grisman Quintet, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Psychograss, Montreux, and the Republic of Strings ensemble.

Michael Daves, who is one of a younger generation of bluegrass musicians, plays regularly with Tony Trischka in addition to his solo and duo work which was dubbed by the New York Times as having “dazzling virtuosity.”

“You think about somebody like Miles Davis or John Coltrane, people who learned everything about jazz and then digested it and it came out a new way. I think Tony's very similar; he's that kind of figure in the banjo world. Tony was ahead of his time." – Béla Fleck

“Mr. Trischka provides a steady through line, drawing clear connections not only to Celtic reels but also West African kora music and Hawaiian slide guitar." - New York Times
“The godfather of what’s sometimes called new acoustic music.”
- New York Times
“One of the most impressive banjoists alive.”
- Billboard
“Keep playing them new notes.”
- Bill Monroe

Tickets: $ 30/$25 members/$18 students

Click here to go to Tony Trischka website
Click here to go to Darol Anger website
Click here to go to Michael Daves website/
Click here to read about the screening of Give Me the Banjo at PS21 on June 25
Click here to read about Steve Reilly’s talk, “Banjo Roots and Branches” on June 9 at the Roe Jan Library

Saturday, June 15, 7:30 pm
8th ANNUAL PAUL GRUNBERG MEMORIAL BACH CONCERT
EUGENE DRUCKER violin & MARIJA STROKE piano
D Minor Partita for solo violin, Keyboard Partita in B flat Major & piano-violin sonatas

Eugene Drucker is a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, which has over thirty acclaimed recordings and nine Grammy® Awards. Mr. Drucker also maintains an active solo career. He has appeared with the orchestras of Montreal, Brussels, Antwerp, Liege, Hartford, Richmond, Omaha, Jerusalem and the Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as with the American Symphony Orchestra and Aspen Chamber Symphony. Mr. Drucker has recorded the complete unaccompanied works of Bach, recently reissued by Parnassus Records, and the complete sonatas and duos of Bartók for Biddulph Recordings. Mr. Drucker's compositional debut, a setting of four sonnets by Shakespeare, was premiered in 2008.

Ms. Stroke has performed in chamber music and solo recitals internationally. She is a founding member of The Apollo Trio, which has performed to critical acclaim in the United States and in Europe The New York Times described Sroke’s playing as “splendid” and ‘delightfully extroverted.” Her solo performances have included recitals throughout the former Soviet Union, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the United States and Canada, concerto appearances in the United States, France, Germany and Austria.

Tickets: $ 35/$30 members/$20 students

Click here to read Eugene Drucker’s bio
Click here to read Marija Stroke’s bio