ARTISTS
AWADAGIN PRATT
Awadagin Pratt - pianist, pedagogue, conductor, and curator-of-artistic-moments - is actively inventing the musical world he hopes to live in as. And you’re invited.
Launched onto the international stage after winning the prestigious Naumburg International Piano Competition (1992) and conferred as an artist-to-be-reckoned-with when awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant (1994), early reviews rightfully hinted that “surprise seems to be the one constant in recitals by the extravagantly gifted, young American pianist, Awadagin Pratt.” (Daniel Cariaga, Los Angeles Times)
Hailed by the Washington Post for his “forceful, imaginative and precisely tinted performance,” Awadagin’s resumé includes appearances at addresses as familiar as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (at the invitation of the Clinton and Obama administrations) and Sesame Street (at the invitation of Big Bird). His breakneck schedule includes engagements with the Boston, Chicago, and St. Louis Symphony Orchestras, solo recitals at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center, and chamber music collaborations with Zuill Bailey, Simone Dinnerstein, and the Harlem Quartet.
ROOMFUL OF TEETH
We are a Grammy® winning vocal band dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice. By engaging collaboratively with artists, thinkers, and community leaders from around the world, we seek to uplift and amplify voices old and new while creating and performing meaningful and adventurous music.
Founded in 2009 by Brad Wells, our band was incubated at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, Massachusetts, where we studied with some of the world’s top performers and teachers and commissioned composers who were known for breaking molds. We have learned that the boundaries of the human voice are never what they seem, that rules can be bent, and broken, and perhaps they should be.
A FAR CRY
Called a “world-wide phenomenon” by Boston’s WBUR, A Far Cry has nurtured a distinct approach to music-making since its founding in 2007. The self-conducted orchestra is a democracy in which decisions are made collectively and leadership rotates among the players (“Criers”). This structure has led to consistently thoughtful, innovative, and unpredictable programming — and impactful collaborations with celebrated performers and composers. Over the past year, A Far Cry has risen to the top of Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart, been named Boston’s best classical ensemble by The Improper Bostonian, and celebrated two Grammy nominations for its Visions and Variations. Boston Musical Intelligencer sums up the group: “In its first decade, this conductor-free ensemble has earned and sustained a reputation for top-drawer playing, engrossing programming, and outstanding guest artists.”