Soka Performing Arts Center Presents Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer

Soka Performing Arts Center presents Béla Fleck (banjo), Zakir Hussain (tabla), Edgar Meyer (double bass) with Rakesh Chauraisa (bansuri - Indian flute) on Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 3pm.

Most musicians hope at most for proficiency in their chosen form, but these gentlemen move from bluegrass to Western classical to Indian classical to jazz, transmuting genres into something uniquely their own as though they had gotten hold of the alchemist's tools that legendarily changed lead into gold.

In any case, it's music that transcends description; ineffable, indefinable, and beautiful. A harmonic convergence of virtuosity, the trio reunites on stage to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their Grammy Award-nominated 2009 album The Melody of Rhythm - Triple Concerto & Music for Trio.

Just in case you aren't familiar with Béla Fleck, there are some who say he's the premiere banjo player in the world. Others claim that Mr. Fleck has virtually reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable performing and recording career that has taken him all over the musical map and on a range of solo projects and collaborations. If you are familiar with Mr. Fleck, you know that he just loves to play the banjo, and put it into unique settings.

The recipient of multiple Grammy Awards and nominations going back to 1998, Mr. Flecks' total Grammy Award count is 15 won, with 30 nominations. He has been nominated in more categories than any instrumentalist in Grammy Award history.

After a transformational stint in the pivotal progressive bluegrass collective New Grass Revival, Fleck co-founded the Flecktones in the late '80s, flinging open the doors of bluegrass fusion with an entire world of sound-funk, hip-hop, rock, classical, jazz.

In recent years Mr. Fleck found himself bouncing among various intriguing touring situations, such as duos with Chick Corea, Chris Thile and Abigail Washburn, in a trio with Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer, performing his concertos with symphonies, concerts with the Brooklyn Rider string quartet, performances with African artists such as Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabate, in jazz collaboration with The Marcus Roberts Trio, rare solo concerts and doing bluegrass with his old friends. And after nearly 30 years, the Flecktones are still performing together.

Zakir Hussain is today appreciated both in the field of percussion and in the music world at large as an international phenomenon and one of the greatest musicians of our time. A classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order, his consistently brilliant and exciting performances have established him as a national treasure in his own country, India, and as one of India's reigning cultural ambassadors. Along with his legendary father and teacher, Ustad Allarakha, he has elevated the status of his instrument both in India and around the world. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study.

Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Mr. Hussain's contribution to world music has been unique, with many historic collaborations, including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, Remember Shakti, the Diga Rhythm Band, Making Music, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland, and recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, Mark Morris, Rennie Harris, and the Kodo drummers. His music and extraordinary contribution to the music world were honored in April, 2009, with four widely-heralded and sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall's Artist Perspective series.

In demand as both a performer and a composer, Edgar Meyer has formed a role in the music world unlike any other. Hailed by The New Yorker as "...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument," Mr. Meyer's unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002. As a composer, Mr. Meyer has carved out a remarkable and unique niche in the musical world. His music has been premiered and recorded by Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Hilary Hahn, and the Emerson String Quartet, among others.

Collaborations are a central part of Mr. Meyer's work. He has been and remains a member of numerous groups whose members include Chris Thile, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Mark O'Connor, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Mike Marshall, and Amy Dorfman, among others. His debut album in 1985 featured the first public appearance of Strength in Numbers, whose members were Bush, Douglas, Fleck, O'Connor, and Meyer.

Mr. Meyer began studying bass at the age of five under the instruction of his father and continued further to study with Stuart Sankey. In 1994 he received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. Currently, he teaches bass in partnership with Hal Robinson at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

As a solo classical bassist, Mr. Meyer can be heard on a concerto album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hugh Wolff featuring Bottesini and Meyer concertos both alone and with Yo-Yo Ma and Joshua Bell. He has also recorded an album featuring three of Bach's Unaccompanied Suites for Cello. Mr. Meyer was honored with his fifth Grammy Award in 2015 for Best Contemporary Instrumental album for his Bass & Mandolin collaboration with Chris Thile.

Rakesh Chaurasia, the nephew and child prodigy of flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, has a famous name to live up to. Amongst the promising musicians of the second generation, Mr. Chaurasia has carved a niche for himself as an accomplished flautist. Incorporating the tradition of his renowned uncle and infusing his personal style, he has evolved a style which while maintaining the purity of the flute manages to capture the attention of the young listeners too. The most accomplished of disciples of his uncle, however, shows all the promise to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights.

Mr. Chaurasia's flute has matched note and rhythm with wind instruments of other cultures as well as having performed 'jugalbandis' with Carnatic and world famous instrumentalists. His forte is in blending his flute without really losing its identity in mixed instruments' concerts. Mr. Chaurasia has already globe trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and non-classical concerts. He is also an accomplished studio musician having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry. Mr. Chaurasia has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades. He received the Indian Music Academy Award, presented by the Honourable President Of India, Dr..A.P.J Abdul Kalam in 2007, the Aditya Birla Kalakiran Puraskar in 2008, the Guru Shishya Award in 2011, IWAP-Pandit Jasraj Sangeet Ratna Award in 2013 and the Pannalal Ghosh Puraskar 2013.

About Soka Performing Arts Center

Now is in its ninth season of presenting the best of live performances on its extraordinary stage, Soka Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California, is under the new leadership of General Manager Renee Bodie. The 1,000-seat concert hall features world-class acoustics designed by Yasuhisa Toyota, acoustic designer of noted performance venues like Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Designed to truly reflect the university's commitment to sustainability, the concert hall and adjacent Maathai Hall (featuring a black box theatre and dance studio) have been built to Gold LEED standards and feature vegetated green roofs. Photo voltaic cells on the Soka Performing Arts Center roof generate approximately 15% of the facility's electrical needs.

Soka University of America is a private, non-profit, four-year liberal arts college and graduate program. The campus is ranked in the Top 25 National Liberal Arts Colleges in U.S. News and World Report's "Best Colleges 2019." The university is open to top students of all nationalities and beliefs and was founded upon the Buddhist principles of peace, human rights, and the sanctity of life. For more information, please visit soka.edu.

Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer with Rakesh Chaurasia

Sunday, October 20, 2019 at 3pm
Event URL: http://bit.ly/31Uepmy

Regular Tickets: $35/$45/$60/$75

Discount Tickets:

*Senior, Student and Active Military: $31.50/$40.50/$54/$67.50
*Must select the Will Call option when purchasing discount tickets. A valid ID is required to be presented at the Box Office to receive discount tickets.

In Person: Soka Performing Arts Center Box Office, 1 University Drive, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

Online: performingarts.soka.edu

Phone: 949.480.4ART (4278)

All information is accurate at the time of printing but is subject to change.

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