Celebrity Series of Boston Presents Bela Fleck's Banjo Summit Tonight

(Boston) Celebrity Series of Boston will present Béla Fleck's Banjo Summit tonight, October 10, 2013, at 7:30pm at Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, Harvard University, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge.

Tickets for Béla Fleck's Banjo Summit start at $35, and are available online at www.celebrityseries.org, by calling CelebrityCharge at (617) 482-6661 Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., or at the Harvard Box Office, Holyoke Center, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge (617) 496-2222.

This performance marks Béla Fleck's second appearance with the Celebrity Series of Boston. He made his Celebrity Series debut in 2011 with the Flecktones.

Béla Fleck began playing the banjo at the age of 15, and in 1982, joined the progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival as he was releasing a series of solo albums for Rounder Records at the same time. In 1989, he formed the Flecktones, who made their self-titled debut recording in 1990 by playing a "blu-bop" mix of jazz and bluegrass. He is also the only musician to be nominated for Grammys in jazz, bluegrass, pop, country, spoken word, Christian, composition and world music categories. He has won 15 Grammys to date, with 30 nominations.

Bill Keith is a bluegrass style five-string banjoist, who was born in Boston in 1939. He is widely considered a trail blazer of the melodic style of banjo picking he brought forward as a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. He went on to join the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and helped pioneer the early newgrass movement with his work in bands with artists such as David Grisman, Peter Rowan and Richard Greene. He invented the "Keith tuners" that are used by banjo players around the world and which he distributes through his business Beacon Banjos.

Eric Weissberg is an American banjo player, who is best known for playing "Dueling Banjos" in the movie Deliverance. In 1959, he joined The Tarriers as the string-bass player, with whom he spent several years recording and touring around the world. Weissberg later began a successful career as session musician, playing on albums by artists like The Clancy Brothers, Billy Joel, and Bob Dylan.

Noam Pikelny is a Grammy-nominated banjoist from Skokie, Illinois. He is currently a member of the progressive bluegrass band the Punch Brothers, which released its first album in 2008. He received the first annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass in September 2010.

Richie Stearns plays the banjo as a member of the American alternative rock/folk band, The Horse Flies. Stearns has also toured extensively with and recorded in pop singer Natalie Merchant's band, appearing on two of her albums.

Tony Trischka was inspired to play the banjo in 1963, after listening to the Kingston Trio's "Charlie and The MTA." For more than 35 years, his work has inspired a whole generation of bluegrass and acoustic musicians. He served as young Béla Fleck's banjo teacher, and continues to explore the traditions and possibilities of the banjo through his "World Turning" concerts, his band Territory and as a record producer for artists such as Steve Martin.

Abigail Washburn has brought her clawhammer banjo and vocals skills to the groups Uncle Earl and The Sparrow Quartet as well as duo shows with Bela Fleck.

The banjoists will be accompanied on stage by a stellar acoustic band that features guitarist Russ Barenberg (of the Barenberg, Douglas & Meyer band), fiddler Casey Driessen (Sparrow Quartet, Jerry Douglas), mandolinist Jesse Cobb (of the Infamous Stringdusters), and bassist Corey DiMario (of Crooked Still).

Program is approximately 2.5 hours with one intermission.

About Celebrity Series of Boston

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.

The Celebrity Series of Boston, Inc. receives generous support from Amy and Joshua Boger; Eleanor and Frank Pao; Donna and Mike Egan; Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation; The Little Family Foundation; Tufts Health Plan; Foley & Lardner LLP; The John S. and Cynthia Reed Foundation; First Republic Bank; The Peabody Foundation; Charlesbank Capital Partners; PTC, The D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp; Massachusetts Cultural Council; New England Foundation for the Arts.

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