The legacy of Count Basie lives on in this nineteen-member jazz ensemble which has won seventeen Grammy Awards. Led by Bill Hughes, who played trombone under Count Basie, and accompanied by drummer extraordinarire Butch Miles, this band is winning over a whole new generation of younger fans with its tight rhythm section, soloists, and precision playing.
[Sponsored by Clarion Hotel, Oneonta and SUNY Oneonta.]
Visit their website at www.countbasie.com.
The Tannahill Weavers, named to honor Robert Tannahill
(1774-1810), is one of Scotland’s premier traditional bands, a
dynamic acoustic quintet whose music spans the centuries with
fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and
lullabies. For Scotland, the late 18th and early 19th century
was a time of profound and uncomfortable changes, difficult,
often brutal...and yet, a time of great poets, the likes of Robert
Burns and Robert Tannahill. And it was a time of great music.
The Tannahill Weavers’ diverse repertoire reflects the duality
of Scotland’s musical heritage. It embraces both the mystical
quality of the Highlander’s Celtic music, and the rollicking,
sometimes even brawling qualities of the Lowlander’s
Anglo-Scots tunes. Their arrangements blend the beauty of
the traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. “An
especially eloquent mixture of the old and the new.” -- New York
Times
[Sponsored by Meadwestvaco.]
Visit their website at www.tannahillweavers.com.
Back for their second Oneonta performance, the International
Sejong Soloists, under the artistic direction of Hyo Kang,
continue to provide audiences around the world with a
marvelous musical experience. Uniquely comprised of
today’s leading young soloists, SEJONG has been praised
for its cohesiveness, beautiful sound, and fresh musical
interpretations—performing a broad range of string orchestral
works as well as solo and chamber repertoire. Since its
origination in New York City in 1995, the fourteen members
of SEJONG have performed in leading concert venues in
the United States, Europe and Asia. The ensemble has also
coordinated various youth music programs in the New York City
area.
Visit their website at www.internationalsejongsoloists.org.
Described by The New Yorker as “friendly, unpretentious,
idealistic and highly skilled,” eighth blackbird promises its
ever-increasing audiences provocative and engaging
performances. It is widely lauded for its performing style – often
playing from memory with virtuosic and theatrical flair – and
its efforts to make new music accessible to wide audiences.
A New York Times reviewer raved, “eighth blackbird’s
performances are the picture of polish and precision, and
they seem to be thoroughly engaged…by music in a broad
range of contemporary styles.” Eighth blackbird has been the
subject of profiles in the New York Times and on NPR’s All
Things Considered; it has also been featured on CBS’s Sunday
Morning, St. Paul Sunday, Weekend America and The Next Big
Thing.
Visit their website at www.eighthblackbird.com.
Dedicated to the belief that the future of chamber music lies in
nurturing the very highest quality performers and in cultivating
new audiences, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
offers programs designed to bring the art of chamber music to
audiences from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and levels
of musical knowledge. CMSLC plays a leading role in the field
of chamber music through its extensive concert season in
New York, its national tours and its multi-faceted educational
programs. Chamber Music Society ensembles have been
greeted with great audience enthusiasm in Oneonta in their
many visits. Their April concert will feature Piazzolla’s Histoire
du Tango for Flute and Percussion and Ravel’s Sonata for Violin
and Piano and Piano Trio in A minor.
[Sponsored by SUNY Oneonta.]
Visit their website at www.chambermusicsociety.org.
American dance legend Paul Taylor established Taylor 2 in
1993 to ensure that his works could be seen by audiences all
over the world, unhindered by economic or logistical limitations.
Mr. Taylor looked back to the 1954 origins of the Paul Taylor
Dance Company for the structure of his new company: six
professionals who perform his work and teach his style to
people of all ages. The six dancers of Taylor 2 are chosen for
their special gift for his style. The company performs all over
the world, to cheers from audiences and critics alike for the
athleticism, humor, wit and wide emotional range that is the
hallmark of Taylor’s choreography. Taylor 2’s chamber size
has been described as “wonderfully intimate,” with the ability
to clearly reveal both the structure and the movement of Paul
Taylor’s works.
Visit their website at www.ptdc.org.
Oneonta Concert Association programs are made possible, in part, by The New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. OCA is supported by the Dewar Foundation, the A.C. Molinari Foundation, and other area foundations. OCA is a member of the Otsego County Arts Alliance, funded by Otsego County Occupancy Tax Revenues and Wilber National Bank. Wilber National Bank is proud to support the arts and their contribution to our quality of life. For more information about events in Otsego County, call 800-843-3394.