Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

Artpark hosts pre-concert talk with Ben Folds and Nadia Sirota

Submitted

Fri, Jul 8th 2016 04:10 pm

July 13th talk is free to attend

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, Artpark will host a pre-show discussion with Ben Folds and Nadia Sirota, an acclaimed violist, member of yMusic and host of the Peabody-winning podcast "Meet the Composer" on WQXR.

The pre-show talk is free and open to public. The event will be located in Artpark's Emerald Grove stage (outside of Mainstage Theater entrance gates/gallery).

Please note this is not a meet and greet. Folds and Sirota will head promptly to the stage to prepare for the concert immediately following a short Q&A.

Tickets are still available for the July 13 "Wednesdays at Artpark" concert featuring Ben Folds with yMusic. Front-of-stage tickets are $27 while general admission tickets are $12 in advance or $17 beginning Sunday. Get tickets online at artpark.net or tickets.com

About Ben Folds

Multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter/producer Folds first found mainstream success as the leader of the critically acclaimed Ben Folds Five. He has gone on to have a successful solo career, recording multiple studio albums, a pair of records documenting his live performances, a remix record, music for film and TV, as well as numerous collaborations with artists from Sara Bareilles to William Shatner.

In 2013, he composed "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" to critical acclaim. Since then, Folds has continued his global symphony performance quest, recently recording a new album that features the concerto and a host of new songs that overlap pop and classical worlds with a fresh sound he dubbed "chamber rock."

About Nadia Sirota

"A one-woman contemporary-classical commissioning machine" (Pitchfork), violist Sirota is best known for her singular sound and expressive execution, coaxing works and collaborations from the likes of Nico Muhly, Daníel Bjarnason, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Judd Greenstein, Marcos Balter and Missy Mazzoli. Her debut album, "First Things First" (New Amsterdam Records), was named a record of the year by The New York Times, while her follow-up, "Baroque" (Bedroom Community and New Amsterdam) has been called "beautiful music of a higher order than anything else you will hear this year" by SPINMedia website PopMatters.

This season, Sirota premieres both a new concerto written for her by longtime collaborator Muhly and a new podcast, "Meet the Composer," on Q2 Music, which explores the work of living composers through her interviews and musical selections. Sirota was awarded the 2010 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in Radio and Internet Broadcasting for her previous show on Q2 Music.

She is a member of yMusic, Alarm Will Sound and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. Sirota has lent her sound to recording and concert projects by such artists and songwriters as Grizzly Bear, Jónsi and Arcade Fire. In 2013, she won Southern Methodist University's 2013 Meadows Prize, awarded to pioneering artists and scholars with an emerging international profile. She received degrees from the Juilliard School, where she performed as co-founder of the AXIOM ensemble.

Hometown News

View All News