Double date for an extraordinary Season Opening!

Rhiannon Giddens: voice, banjo, fiddle
Francesco Turrisi: piano, accordion, frame drums

Rhiannon Giddens is an extraordinary musician and singer of American folk and traditional music, played on fiddle and fretless banjo; Francesco Turrisi is a versatile Italian pianist and percussionist, expert in jazz, ancient music, and traditional Mediterranean music. In 2018, through a chance musical encounter in Ireland—where both reside—Rhiannon and Francesco discovered that Giddens' 19th-century minstrel banjo tunes and Turrisi's traditional Sicilian tambourine rhythms harmoniously combine, creating a surprising alchemy. This was the spark: in 2019, Giddens and Turrisi released their first critically acclaimed duo album, "There is no Other," with the single "I'm on My Way" nominated for a Grammy Award in 2020. The album is both a condemnation of “othering” and a celebration of the spread of ideas, connectivity, and shared experience. Tracing the movement of instruments, sounds, and musical language between Africa, the Arab world, Europe, and the Americas, “There is no Other” illuminates the flourishing that is possible when culture flows freely between peoples and lands. Their second album, "They're Calling Me Home" (2021), was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2022, winning in the “Best Folk Album” category. No Depression magazine called it "...an almost perfect album, Giddens' best work to date." Recorded over six days during the early phase of the pandemic in a small studio outside Dublin, “They're Calling Me Home” effortlessly blends the music of their native and adopted countries: America, Italy, and Ireland. The album, which also deals with the metaphorical “call home” of death, was described by Uncut magazine as “an extended meditation on the expatriate experience, with poignant interpretations of hymns.” Rhiannon and Francesco return to our stage for the fourth time, which first presented them in Italy in February 2019. "This is acoustic roots music in its most glorious form, and Giddens is rapidly becoming the genre's brightest star in the firmament." (Uncut)

Rhiannon Giddens. Co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, with whom she rose to international fame (the band won a Grammy Award in 2011 with the album “Genuine Negro Jig,” produced by Joe Henry), this extraordinary singer and virtuoso multi-instrumentalist is now a two-time Grammy winner and eight-time nominee for her solo and collaborative work: in 2022, she won a second Grammy Award for her duo album with Francesco Turrisi, “They're Calling Me Home”; in 2023, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the opera “Omar.” She has been a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" and is a writer, composer of operas, ballets, and films. Giddens uses her art to delve into the past and reveal bold truths about our present; she has built a singular and iconic career by expanding her genre of folk music, with deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into practically every imaginable field. She has focused her work on the mission of elevating people whose contributions to American musical history have been previously overlooked or erased and promoting a more accurate understanding of the USA's musical origins through art. As Pitchfork once said, “…few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration,” a journey that led NPR to name her one of the 25 most influential women musicians of the 21st century and American Songwriter to call her “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.” Smithsonian Magazine describes her as "an electrifying artist who brings forgotten ancestors back to life, both black and white." Among the many highlights of her career, Giddens has performed for the Obamas at the White House, shared the stage with Paul Simon, Joan Baez, and countless other legends, recorded a duet with Ben Harper, received a "Legacy of Americana Award" from the National Museum of African American History in Nashville in collaboration with the Americana Music Association, and was awarded the Steve Martin Prize in 2016, becoming the first woman and the first african american to receive it. Her critical acclaim includes in-depth profiles from CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and NPR's Fresh Air, among many others. Giddens has also acted in several episodes of Ken Burns' Country Music series “Nashville.” She is also a member of the band Our Native Daughters alongside three other banjoists: Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, and Amythyst Kiah, and in 2019 co-produced their debut album “Songs of Our Native Daughters,” which tells stories of historic black femininity and survival.
Francesco Turrisi. A multi-instrumentalist (playing piano, accordion, harpsichord, organ, various lutes, cello banjo, frame drums, and goblet drums), he has been described by the press as an "alchemist" and a "musical polyglot." He left his native Italy in 1997 to study jazz piano and ancient music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree. Since 2004, he has successfully worked as a freelance musician. He has released five critically acclaimed albums as a leader and two as a co-leader (“Tarab,” an innovative cross-border ensemble that blends traditional Irish and Mediterranean music, and “Zahr,” a project that explores the connections between traditional southern Italian and Arab music). His latest solo piano album "Northern Migrations" was described as "delicate, melancholic, and utterly engaging" by the Irish Times. Francesco is also a member of the renowned early music ensemble L'Arpeggiata, with whom he has performed at major classical music festivals in Europe and around the world (Turkey, Russia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia) and has recorded for Warner, Virgin, Naive, and Alpha. Since 2018, he has been collaborating steadily with Rhiannon Giddens. Francesco is comfortable playing with jazz veterans like Dave Liebman and Gianluigi Trovesi, as well as traditional Irish singer Roisin El Safty and tarantella specialist Lucilla Galeazzi. Turrisi has toured with Bobby McFerrin, performed Steve Reich's music with Bang on a Can All Stars, accompanied flamenco star Pepe El Habichuela and Greek singer Savina Yannatou. His long list of collaborations also includes Bill Frisell, Nils Landgren, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Gavin Bryars, Gabriele Mirabassi, Rolando Villazon, Lisa Hannigan, Maria Pia de Vito, Theodosii Spassov, The King's Singers, Veronique Gens, and Philippe Jaroussky. “His ability to rework ancient melodies and rhythms through the prism of contemporary jazz defines Turrisi as one of the most original voices to emerge on the European scene in the last decade.” (Ian Patterson – All About Jazz).

https://rhiannongiddens.com/
https://www.francescoturrisi.com/