PLAY ME I'M YOURS Street Pianos, Bela Fleck and More Set for Celebrity Series of Boston, Oct 2013

Celebrity Series of Boston has announced its October 2013 performances. The series is celebrating its 75th Anniversary Season with Street Pianos Boston and the 75 pianos around Boston and Cambridge. Details below!

Street Pianos Boston: Play Me I'm Yours
September 27 - October 14, 2013

In celebration of the 75th season, the Celebrity Series of Boston will partner with British artist Luke Jerram to bring his public piano installation, Play Me I'm Yours to Boston from Friday, September 27 to Monday, October 14, 2013. Celebrity Series will install 75 pianos throughout the Boston and Cambridge area to commemorate the anniversary season, bearing the simple instruction, "Play Me, I'm Yours." Located in public spaces throughout Boston and Cambridge, the pianos are available for any member of the public to play and enjoy.

Exact locations and a map of the pianos will be announced by mid-September and the public is encouraged to upload and share video clips, photos and comments.

The 75th Season Kickoff Party
Saturday, October 5, 9pm - Midnight
The Galleria: 10 St. James Avenue, Boston
Tickets: $50 and up. Call (617)598-3218 for more information

The 75th Season Kickoff Party to celebrate Street Pianos Boston takes place on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at the Galleria at 10 St. James Avenue with an evening of food, drinks, and celebration, in partnership with Opus Affair and sponsored by Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse.

Béla Fleck's Banjo Summit
Featuring Béla Fleck, Bill Keith, Eric Weissberg, Noam Pikelny, Richie Stearns, Tony Trischka and Abigail Washburn
Thursday, October 10, 7:30pm
Sanders Theatre: 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $35 and up
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard Square

Generally considered the most accomplished master of the instrument, Béla Fleck will be joined by fellow pickers Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Richie Stearns, Eric Weissberg, Noam Pikelny and Abigail Washburn in a concert that will find the banjo being performed in both conventional and unexpected ways. In performances ranging from solos and duets to full-tilt banjo blowouts with all The Players and an acoustic band, the concert stage will range from the traditional backdrop of bluegrass and old-time country music to the more unconventional banjo genres including jazz, classical and rock music.

Yuja Wang, piano
Boston Recital Debut
Friday, October 18, 2013, 8pm
NEC's Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA
Tickets: $30 and up
MBTA: Green Line E to Symphony

Twenty-six year old pianist Yuja Wang is widely recognized as one of the most important pianists of her generation. Lauded for her controlled, prodigious technique, Yuja has been praised for her authority over the most complex technical demands of the repertoire, the depth of her musical insight, as well as her fresh interpretations and charismatic stage presence. Following her debut recording, Sonatas & Etudes, Gramophone magazine named her the Classic FM 2009 Young Artist of the Year. For her second recording, Transformation, Yuja received an Echo Klassik award as "Young Artist of the Year." She brings a program of Prokofiev, Chopin and Stravinsky to Boston for her recital debut.

Chris Thile
Sunday, October 20, 2013, 7pm
Sanders Theatre: 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Tickets: $35 and up
MBTA: Red Line to Harvard Square

Chris Thile, of Punch Brothers, is a mandolin virtuoso, composer and vocalist. With his broad outlook that encompasses progressive bluegrass, classical, rock and jazz, Thile transcends the borders of conventional genres, creating a distinctly American sound and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike. Recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (aka "genius grant"), in February 2013 Thile also won a Grammy for his work on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan. Punch Brothers, described by The Times of London as "brilliant, audacious, original and, above all, entertaining," released their latest album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, in 2012 on Nonesuch Records. In August 2013, Thile released Bach Sonatas & Partitas Vol. 1, also on Nonesuch Records.

On this Boston program, he draws from his new Bach recording, while also exploring his own compositions and contemporary music.

David Finckel, cello and Wu Han, piano
Sunday, October 27, 2013, 3pm
NEC's Jordan Hall: 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston, MA
Tickets: $35 and up
MBTA: Green Line E to Symphony

Musical America's 2012 Musicians of the Year, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han demonstrate talent, energy, imagination, and dedication to their multifaceted endeavors as concert performers, recording artists, educators, artistic administrators, and cultural entrepreneurs go unmatched. The duo has performed at some of the most prestigious venues, concert series, and festivals across the United States, including New York's Lincoln Center, Washington's Kennedy Center, San Francisco Performances, Boston's Gardner Museum, Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Music@Menlo.

The duo will perform Beethoven's Complete Sonatas for Piano and Cello.

Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration featuring Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and Chorale Le Chateau, conducted by Damien Sneed

Sunday, October 27, 2013 7pm

Symphony Hall: 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA

Tickets: $35 and up
MBTA: Green Line E to Symphony

Never has Marsalis melded the codes of sacred and secular expression more successfully than with the 2008 extended work Abyssinian Mass, commissioned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. In this performance, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra revisits this masterwork, adding the 70-voice gospel choir, Chorale Le Chateau, conducted by Damien Sneed.

Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario AaRon Richmond. Over the course of its 75-year history, Celebrity Series has presented an array of the world's greatest performing artists, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arturo Toscanini, Ignace Paderewski, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Andrés Segovia, Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Anderson, Luciano Pavarotti, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Martha Graham, Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the New York City Opera Company.

The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers-from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more-to Boston's major concert halls for 75 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience-on stages, in schools, at home- everywhere. For more information on Celebrity Series of Boston, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.