Date and Time:
Thursday, November 10, 2005 at 7:30 p.m.

Single Tickets:
$10, 15, 25, 35, 47 (discounts available for seniors, youth, and groups)
This concert is sold out! Tickets that become available (if any) will be on sale until 4 p.m. on November 10th by calling 303-492-8008 or starting at 6:30 p.m. at Macky Auditorium.

Season Ticket Packages:
This concert is part of the Artist Series and Music in Motion season ticket packages.

Location:
Macky Auditorium

Running Time:
1.5 to 2 hours

Preconcert Conversation:
Instructor of Double Bass Susan Cahill at 6:45 p.m. in Macky Room 102

Event Overview:
Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and renowned bassist Edgar Meyer are the foremost performers on their respective instruments. Together these great artists and old friends explore wide ranging genres from bluegrass to jazz to classical. Anything can happen musically in this evening, but awe inspiring artistry and creative collaboration is guaranteed.

Program:
To be announced from the stage

Artist Bio:
Béla Fleck
Born and raised in New York City, Béla began his musical career playing the guitar. In the early 1960’s, while watching the “Beverly Hillbillies,” the bluegrass sounds of Flatt & Scruggs flowed out of the TV set and into his young brain. Earl Scruggs’s banjo style hooked Béla’s interest immediately. It wasn’t until his grandfather bought him a banjo in September of 1973, that it became his full time passion. That week, Béla entered New York City’s High School of Music and Art.

In 1981, Béla was invited to join the progressive bluegrass band New Grass Revival, lead by Sam Bush on mandolin, fiddle and vocals. During the nine years Béla spent with NGR he continued to record a series of solo albums for Rounder, including the ground breaking 1988 album Drive. He also collaborated with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer and Mark O’Connor in an acoustic super group called Strength in Numbers.

Toward the end of the New Grass years, Béla and Howard Levy crossed paths at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Next came a phone call from a friend of Béla’s, wanting to introduce to him, a new bass player who was in town looking for a gig. Victor Lemonte Wooten played some licks on the phone for Béla and the second connection was made. Howard and Victor signed on for the concert, but the group still lacked a drummer. The search was on for an unusual drummer/percussionist. Victor offered up his brother Roy Wooten, later to become known as FutureMan. Next came the self-titled CD. The album was Grammy nominated, and their second recording Flight of the Cosmic Hippo followed suit. They have shared the stage with Dave Mathews Band, Sting, Bonnie Raitt and the Grateful Dead, among many others.

Any world-class musician born with the names Béla (for Bartók), Anton (for Dvorák) and Léos (for Janácek) would seem destined to play classical music. Already a powerfully creative force in bluegrass, jazz, pop, rock and world beat, Béla at last made the classical connection with Perpetual Motion, his critically acclaimed 2001 Sony Classical recording that went on to win a pair of Grammys, including Best Classical Crossover Album, in the 44th annual Grammy Awards.

Collaborating with Fleck on Perpetual Motion was his long time friend and colleague Edgar Meyer, a bassist whose virtuosity defies labels and also an acclaimed composer. In the wake of that album’s release, Fleck & Meyer came up with the idea of a banjo/bass duo, which they developed and refined during a concert tour of the US. Live recordings from that tour are the basis for their latest Sony Classical recording Music For Two which also includes a bonus DVD featuring a documentary film by Sascha Paladino (Fleck’s brother) that captures the duo’s collaboration and crafting of repertoire while on tour. Béla and Edgar also co-wrote and performed a double concerto for banjo, bass and the Nashville Symphony, which debuted in November 2003.

The recipients of Multiple Grammy Awards going back to 1998, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones picked up the Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, Instrumental Grammy in 2000 for Outbound. Flecks’ total Grammy count is 8 Grammys won, and 20 nominations. He has been nominated in more different categories than anyone in Grammy history.

Edgar Meyer
Prominently established as a unique and masterful instrumentalist, Edgar Meyer delights his audiences both as a vibrant performer and an innovative composer.  His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002.

Fruitful collaborations are the cornerstone of Mr. Meyer’s work.  The recently released Music for Two is the latest collaboration with banjoist Béla Fleck and features live performances from the duo’s tours together from October 2001 to September 2003.  The recording also features a DVD with footage documenting the tour and the development of their collaboration on specific works in the program.  Prior to that, Mr. Meyer joined with violinist Joshua Bell and legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall to form a quartet featuring a unique fusion of classical and bluegrass musical styles. The album, Short Trip Home, released in Fall 1999, was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Classical Crossover album and the group was subsequently invited to perform live at the 42nd annual Grammy Awards.  Shortly before this collaboration, Mr. Meyer was involved in an inventive trio project with Béla Fleck on banjo and Mike Marshall on mandolin, performing original compositions marrying bluegrass, classical and other traditional styles.  Earlier in Mr. Meyer’s career, from 1986-1992, he was a member of the progressive bluegrass band “Strength in Numbers,” whose members included Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, and Mark O’Connor.  To further explore his interests in a variety of musical genres, Mr. Meyer’s vast musical interests have also led him to be a widely sought after guest bass player for an assortment of recording artists, such as Garth Brooks, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hank Williams, Jr., Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, T-Bone Burnett, Reba McIntyre, the Indigo Girls, Travis Tritt and the Chieftains.

Mr. Meyer and colleagues Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’ Connor have been widely acclaimed for the Sony release of Appalachia Waltz, which soared to the top of the charts and remained there for 16 weeks.  Appalachia Waltz toured extensively in the U.S., and the trio was featured both on the David Letterman Show and the televised 1997 Inaugural Gala.  Joining with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor for a second time, Appalachian Journey, the follow-up to Appalachia Waltz, was released in March 2000.  Appalachian Journey won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album that season.  In October 1999, Mr. Meyer’s violin concerto written for violinist Hilary Hahn was premiered and recorded by Ms. Hahn with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra led by Hugh Wolff.

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 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. 

Links:
www.belafleck.com
www.edgarmeyer.com