Bowlus Fine Arts Center: 2023-2024 Season Preview

2023-2024 SEASON PREVIEW

EXPERIENCE DELIGHTFUL DINOSAUR ACTION!

DINOSAUR

WORLD LIVE

AN ACTION-PACKED AND EXCITING THEATRICAL CIRCUS! ALICE...

DREAMING OF WONDERLAND

EXPERIENCE AMAZING PERCUSSION AND COMEDY!

BUCKETS N BOARDS

WHAT CHRISTMAS MEANS TO ME

MICHELLE FOSTER

A NIGHT OF ROCK’N’ROLL AND AMERICANA LEE ROCKER OF THE STRAY CATS

Family Series

Music Series

Sleeper Family Trust Speaker Series

MUSIC SERIES

Series Pricing

• Orchestra Adult: $81/seat

• Orchestra Student: $63/seat

• Balcony Adult: $57/seat

• Balcony Student: $39/seat

Single Ticket Pricing

• Orchestra Adult: $27/seat

• Orchestra Student: $21/seat

• Balcony Adult: $19/seat

• Balcony Student: $13/seat

FAMILY SERIES

Series Pricing (ALL SEATING AREAS)

• Adult: $57/seat

• Student: $42/seat

Single Ticket Pricing (ALL SEATING AREAS)

• Adult: $19/seat

• Student: $14/seat

SLEEPER FAMILY TRUST SPEAKER SERIES

Series Pricing (ALL SEATING AREAS)

• Adult: $41/seat

• Student: $24/seat

Single Ticket Pricing (ALL SEATING AREAS)

• Adult: $17/seat

• Student: $10/seat

RECITAL SERIES

Series Pricing (General Admission)

• Adult: $36/seat

• Student: $24/seat

Single Ticket Pricing (General Admission)

• Adult: $15/seat

• Student: $10/seat

All tickets now on sale! Visit bowluscenter.org or call 620-365-4765 to purchase tickets.

Don’t miss this exciting season From Stray Cats to Wonderland to Dinosaurs...

Dear Friends, Come experience a season filled with song, sound, music, circus acrobats, incredible stories, and yes, even dinosaurs at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.

World class performances will be taking the Iola stage once again evidence of the Bowlus’ amazing drawing power. We are a small with a big voice!

Now’s the time to lock in your seats for the upcoming season.

The Music Series offers plenty of nostalgia, from the rockabilly days of Lee Rocker of Stray Cats to the jukebox musical “Forever Young,” playing songs in every era. Be transported back to the founding days of Nashville with a show celebrating Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins in “Nashville Legacy.” Not to be missed is Michael Kaeshammer, who may be a new name for many, but not for long. Kaeshammer is an amazing performer at the piano, backed by an incredible band.

The Family Series is for children of all ages. And yes, that includes the young child in all of us. The circus acts in “Alice: Dreaming of Wonderland” tell the adventure of “Alice in Wonderland” with incredible skill and fun colorful sets and costumes. Spend your fami-

EDITORS:

LAYOUT:

Daniel Kays, executive director, Bowlus Fine Arts Center

ly Christmas at the Bowlus with “Michelle Foster: What Christmas Means to Me,” as she reflects on Christmas traditions and music. Buckets N Boards is an experience you do not want to miss. The duo perform crazy drumming, songs, antics, and encourage lots of audience participation. Did I mention you will see dinosaurs of all different sizes in “Dinosaur World Live?”

The Speakers Series, sponsored by the Sleeper Family Trust, will inspire and trigger curiosity. Our

ADVERTISING:

community is blessed with the combined efforts of the Sleeper Family Trust and the Clopton Trust whose efforts are bringing a conversation with novelist Erik Larson to our stage. Flying into our community is the inspiring words and personal story of Amelia Rose Earhart. For those who love reading the intimate letters of the famous will not want to miss “Letters Aloud: The Road to Fame.”

The Recital Series is quintessential world class music. Young phenom Kansas City composer and beautiful double bass soloist Xavier Foley will wow the audience. Violinist Soobeen Lee, who recently was awarded the Lauret-Third Prize in the Concours Musical International De Montreal, will spend three days in Iola inspiring our local musicians. Not to be missed, bringing layers of classical, jazz, contemporary, and world music into his inspiriting compositions is Brian O’Neill with his quintet Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica. A night to truly remember.

Ticket purchases can easily be made online, over the phone, or in person.

Season tickets are on sale now. Single tickets are available starting Sept. 4. Experience the Bowlus and live the arts live.

GRAPHIC DESIGN:

MARKETING AND DESIGN:

Buckets N Boards

7 p.m. Saturday, September 16

Buckets N Boards is a hilarious high-energy show chock-full of amazing percussion, ridiculous songs, spectacular tap dancing, inventive instrumentation and an incredible variety of musical talents.

Matthew Levingston and Gareth Sever have hand-crafted a fresh and unique clean comedy experience for the entire family.

The show was born from their shared passion for music and rhythm, but it truly comes to life through the nonstop interplay between these two characters and their audience.

The intricate beats and stunning synchronicity are awesome to behold. The sheer variety of instruments and found objects they are able to manipulate is inspiring.

Both are college graduates with de-

grees in theatre comedy and Gareth has been teaching tap and instruments for 20 years as well as being a vocal coach.

The comedy, centered on the improvisational interactions with the crowd, is the driving force of the show.

With 13 critically acclaimed summer seasons (so far) in Branson, Mo., touring performing arts centers nationwide, having headlined with the Kansas City Symphony and currently one of the top requested featured acts on Disney Cruise Lines, Buckets N Boards has firmly established itself in the live performance world.

Regarded as a mustsee show for any evening out with the family, their unexpected comedy and upbeat personalities will leave you laughing for the rest of your week.

Matthew Levingston and Gareth Sever with Buckets N Boards.

Michelle

Foster

7 p.m. Saturday, December 16

Bring the entire family to see “What Christmas Means to Me,” featuring rising star Michelle Foster with her six-piece band.

The show combines Michelle’s love and appreciation for artists such as Carole King, Karen Carpenter and Joni Mitchell with songs of the holiday. It’s a perfect mix of new and old holiday songs and stories that you won’t want to miss.

Foster has been touring and performing professionally since age 14, when she was chosen to perform as a soloist at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for an audience of thousands. As a pianist, she has played with two-time Grammy Award winner Gloria Gaynor, Tony Award winner Laura Benanti, 1976 People’s Choice Awards Favorite All-Around Male Entertainer Tony Orlando, The Tokens’ Jay Siegel, famous doo-wop acts in-

cluding The Duprees, The Clovers, The Tymes and many more. In the summer of 2019, Foster was cast in her first professional musical at Axelrod Performing Arts Center in New Jersey.

Months later, however, Foster was selected to perform as vocalist/keyboardist with the Mercury World Tour, produced by Terry Barber, at The Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. Michelle now tours internationally with Barber as a collaborative pianist and vocal soloist.

Michelle Foster brings her six-piece band for “What Christmas Means to Me.”

Dinosaur World Live

7 p.m. Friday, February 16

Discover a pre-historic world of astonishing (and remarkably lifelike) dinosaurs in this roarsome interactive show for all the family.

Meet a host of impressive creatures including a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Triceratops, Giraffatitan, Microraptor and Segnosaurus.

Don’t miss this entertaining and mind-expanding Jurassic adventure, live on stage.

The show is brought by Nicoll Entertainment, the brainchild of Oliver Royds and Nick Brooke of Great Britain, creating some of the most innovative family-friendly theatre productions of the past decade.

The company has toured extensively across the UK and Ireland, as well as international tours across the USA, China, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain, to name a few.

Their Olivier Award nominated production

Dinosaur World Live features innovative and remarkably life-like dinosaurs in an interactive family show.

of “The Tiger Who Came to Tea” has been a huge success since its debut in 2008, playing to packed houses regularly across the UK and internationally; “Dinosaur World Live” has wowed audiences across three conti -

nents since 2017 with its ferociously life-like and life-size dinosaur puppets, and is unique in bringing puppets of this scale to an interactive setting where the audience can get so close to them; and most recently the

Olivier Award nominated production of Dragons & Mythical Beasts has brought amazement and wonder to audiences across the UK and USA, and in autumn 2023 will embark on its debut tour of mainland China.

Alice: Dreaming of Wonderland

3 p.m. Sunday, April 14

From the producers of The Underwater Bubble Show, winner of the 2018 Merlin award for Best Family Show, comes another colorful, visionary show for the entire family. Be ready to experience an amazing journey in the crazy world of Wonderland.

Based on Alice’s adventure “Dreaming of Wonderland” is an action-packed and exciting theatrical circus show full of surprise and amazing acts, enhanced with video projection, 3D mapping and live music.

Alice’s adventures are a manifesto to fantasy and free spirit...

I’m not crazy, my reality is different from yours.

It’s an interactive performance where you will meet all the most popular characters of Alice’s adventures.

Have you ever thought you might see the March Hare balance on a tower of chairs during the tea party? What about the Mad Hatter playing crazy instruments or Alice performing acrobatics inside a giant keyhole? Have you ever seen a giant “human” house of cards?

These are just some of the sensations that will be experienced in this fascinating and colorful world. But beware, as you will need to open your imagination in order to enter Wonderland, because as Alice says...

“Everyone wants a magical solution to their problems but refuse to believe in magic!”

So follow the White Rabbit, pass through the hole, join us at the Tea Party and remember that we do not always need to look for meaning, after all...

We are All MAD here!

“Dreaming of Wonderland” is an action-packed and exciting theatrical circus show full of surprise and amazing acts, enhanced with video projection, 3D mapping and live music.

Michael Kaeshammer

7 p.m. Saturday, October 21

Michael Kaeshammer has invested a lot — countless hours at the keyboard, hundreds of recordings, thousands of live performances, millions of miles in the air and on the road — all in pursuit of a mastery of 12 notes across 88 keys. But for the acclaimed Canadian pianist and singer, there is no set destination, no achievable end point on his path; it’s all about the journey itself, and that journey will always be ongoing.

Over the course of decades as a professional performer, Kaeshammer has developed a style that weaves threads of classical, jazz, blues, boogie-woogie, stride, and even pop into a signature sonic tapestry.

“When I play, I don’t worry about if it’s jazz or pop or classical or whatever; I just play what I hear and let the music decide what it wants to be,” said Kaeshammer. “Sure, there are different styles, different eras, different approaches, but when you really look at it, it’s all just music based on 12 notes.”

Born and bred in Germany, Kaeshammer began performing on club, theatre, and festival stages throughout Europe in his early teens and continued on that trajectory after emigrating to Canada’s West Coast with his family in the mid-’90s. His first studio album, Blue Keys, dropped in 1996 and spurred a consistent sequence of heralded releases and high-profile international performances. Through it all, the world

watched as he grew from child prodigy to full-fledged phenom; from unparalleled pianist to virtuosic songwriter.

“I do listen to a lot of music, but I’m not overly influenced by other people; it’s more about trying to learn something new every day,” muses Kaeshammer about his musical evolution. “I’ll take pretty much any opportunity if it’s going to help me discover new things and help me progress.”

Those opportunities have been as wide-reaching as the artist’s subsequent breadth of style, and include opening slots for the likes of Ray Charles and Anne Murray; stints backing singers like Marva Wright, the late blues queen of New Orleans; co-writing sessions with rockers Randy Bachman and Colin James; official Olympic Games performances in several world cities; and TV specials.

Michael Kaeshammer

Lee Rocker of Stray Cats

7 p.m. Saturday, November 18

Grammy-nominated Stray Cats founder and Bass Player Hall of Famer Lee Rocker is coming to the Bowlus.

Lee Rocker made his mark singing, playing, standing on, spinning and rocking his giant upright bass as a founding member of the Grammy-nominated music group, Stray Cats.

The Stray Cats sold over 10 million albums, garnered 23 gold and platinum certified records, and were among the early music-video pioneers of MTV. The Stray Cats’ worldwide mega hits, “Rock This Town,” “Stray Cat Strut,” and “Sexy and Seventeen” have become a part of the fabric of rock and roll.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has included “Rock this Town” as one of the “500 Most-Important songs in Rock history.”

From appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, to headlining the world’s biggest festivals and touring with the Rolling Stones…Lee Rocker has seen and done it all.

In addition to his career with The Stray Cats, Lee

Lee Rocker is the founder of Stray Cats and has been inducted into the Bass Player Hall of Fame.

Rocker has recorded and performed with George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, John Fogerty and Carl Perkins.

In 1982, Rocker and his father Stanley Drucker (classical clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, under Leonard Bernstein) both received Grammy nominations; this was something that has only occurred twice in the history of the Grammy Awards.

In 2012, Lee appeared on Broadway in the hit musical “Million Dollar Quartet.”

Rocker has also received numerous honors for his contributions to music and the arts, including being inducted to the Bass Player Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Long Island Music Hall of Fame and he is a recipient of the Visionary Artist Award by his home city of Laguna Beach, California.

In 2021, Rocker was honored to perform at the Library of Congress and at the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden’s Luncheon. Also during

2021, music from his critically acclaimed record “Gather Round” was choreographed and performed as a “rock ballet” by the world-renowned New York City dance company “Complexions.” And finally, the year 2022 found Lee Rocker included in Bass Player Magazine’s 100 Greatest Bassists of all time — in company alongside Sir Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Charles Mingus, Ron Carter and other legends of the instrument.

Lee Rocker has been consistently touring, recording and performing around the globe since 1980 and has cultivated a fanatically loyal following of rockers, rebels and music-lovers of all types.

He is known for making his upright double bass appear as if it were a lightweight instrument as he spins, throws it about and stands on it during his high-energy concerts. In concerts, Lee shares behind-the-scenes stories of his epic career in the music business.

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Forever Young

7 p.m. Saturday, March 9

Forever Young follows one unforgettable group of friends as they discover the greatest hits of all time! Set in a music-filled suburban basement, this unbelievable heartfelt true story is guaranteed to take you back to the first time you pushed play, tuned in, and set the needle down.

Featuring songs by; Billy Joel, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Huey Lewis & The News, Styx, Queen, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Brooks & Dunn, The Black Crows, Bon Jovi, and many more, this multi-award-winning production is jam-packed with powerhouse vocals, dynamite choreography, and one sensational true story that is guaranteed to make you feel ... Forever Young.

Forever Young

The Nashville Legacy of Cramer and Atkins

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Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins. were two legends at their instruments and two giants in the music industry.

Floyd’s unique “slipnote” piano style was an essential part of countless country, pop, and rock hits in the 1950s and ’60s. Made most famous by his smash hit, “Last Date,” Floyd’s signature sound is widely regarded as the standard for country piano.

Chet is known as one of the world’s preeminent guitar virtuosos and most prolific record producers. His innovative thumb-andtwo-finger style brought him unparalleled success as a guitarist, and many of the records he produced for RCA have become classics.

And though they both lost their lives to cancer — Floyd in 1997 and Chet in 2001 — their music lives on through Floyd’s grandson, pianist Jason Coleman, and Chet’s great-niece, guitarist Meagan Taylor.

From a young age, it was evident that Jason had inherited his grandfather’s distinctive “slip-note” piano style, as it managed to weave its way into even the most elementary songs from his early piano lessons. In addition to sharing the piano bench with his “Granddad” at home, Jason grew up performing with Floyd at his concerts and on national TV, and their relationship formed the foundation upon which

Jason has built his own career in music. Jason made his Grand Ole Opry debut at age 17, and two years later played for the Medallion Ceremony recognizing Floyd’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the years since, Jason has spent his career in the studio and on stage, producing his own collection of piano albums and touring coast to coast in concerts that bring his grandfather’s signature piano style to new audiences.

Growing up in the family of a guitar legend, Mea-

gan was surrounded by a heritage of music. And although Chet had taught

Meagan to play fiddle as a child, it wasn’t until she was 18 that she first picked

Pianist Jason Coleman, grandson of Jason Coleman, and guitarist Meagan Taylor, great-niece of Chet Atkins.

up a guitar and turned to her “Uncle Chester” for guidance in the months before he passed away. Since then, Meagan has continued to develop her innate guitar talent, rooted in her uncle’s distinctive style, with the help of Chet’s closest friends and fans. (And she likes to say that she sings a little bit better than Chet.) She has recorded her own albums as well as several collaborations with Jason.

Though both were born and raised in Nashville, Jason and Meagan’s paths didn’t cross until a coincidental meeting in 2004 at ages 19 and 20-something. (Jason is quick to say he is younger.)

They soon discovered how much their upbringings and musical styles had in com-

Proud supporter of the Bowlus, the ne arts, and our youth.

Erik Larson

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p.m. Saturday, October 14

Erik Larson is the author of eight books, six of which became New York Times bestsellers.

His latest books, “The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz” and “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania,” both hit No. 1 on the list soon after launch.

His saga of the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, “The Devil in the White City,” was a finalist for the National Book Award, and won an Edgar Award for fact-crime writing; it lingered on various Times bestseller lists for the better part of a decade. Hulu plans to adapt the book for a limited TV series, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese as executive producers.

Larson’s “In the Garden of Beasts,” about how America’s first ambassador to Nazi Germany and his daughter experienced the rising terror of Hitler’s rule, has been optioned by Tom Hanks for development as a feature film.

Larson’s first book of narrative nonfiction, “Isaac’s Storm,” about the giant hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas, in 1900, won the American Meteorology Society’s prestigious Louis J. Battan Author’s Award. The Washington Post called it the “Jaws of hurricane yarns.”

Larson is particularly pleased to have won the

Chicago Public Library Foundation’s 2016 Carl Sandburg Literary Award for Non-Fiction.

He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Russian history, language and culture; he received a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.

After a brief stint at the Bucks County Courier Times, Larson became a staff writer for The Wall Street Journal, and later a contributing writer for Time Magazine. His magazine stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, and other publications.

He has taught non-fiction writing at San Francisco State, the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, the University of Oregon, and the Chuckanut Writers Conference in Bellingham, Wash., and has spoken to audiences from coast to coast.

A former resident of Seattle, he now lives in Manhattan with his wife, a neonatologist, who is also the author of the nonfiction memoir, “Almost Home,” which, as Erik puts it, “could make a stone cry.”

They have three daughters in far-flung locations and professions.

Their beloved dog Molly resides in an urn on a shelf overlooking Central Park, where they like to think she now spends most of her time.

Letters Aloud

7 p.m. Friday, February 2

Traveling the country since 2014, Letters Aloud has been delighting audiences with meaningful and uplifting stories told through the personal correspondence of real people throughout history. Whether evoking laughter, or tugging at heartstrings, these letters beautifully demonstrate humanity’s remarkable capacity to discover hope, meaning, and joy even in the face of adversity.

Letters Aloud was founded in 2013 by Paul Morgan Stetler as a way to connect a live audience to famous (and infamous) historical figures through their intimate correspondence. We’re also intensely interested in exposing modern audiences to a rapidly disappearing form of communication — the written letter. The eloquence, pathos, and individual experience of history captured in letters is intriguing, instructive, and often hilarious.

Each show brings together letters from every era, curated to explore a central theme. Sounds academic — but the way we do it, it’s addictive. As one fan said, “It’s like literary crack.” With live musical accompaniment and a dynamic slide show, a Letters Aloud evening is guaranteed to inspire.

Stetler, the creator and curator of Letters Aloud, is a co-founder (and former co-artistic director) of Seattle’s multi-award winning New Century Theatre Company. A well

Seattle actor, he has appeared on numerous local stages over the past 20 years, including ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Intiman Theatre, and Empty Space Theatre, as well as numerous regional theatres across the country.

Jamie Herlich, producer, is a leader in the local performing arts arena, with a particular focus on organizational and community relationship development. She currently serves as the Director of Development at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and as an adjunct professor at Seattle University.

known

Paul Morgan Stetler is the creator and curator of Letters Aloud.

Amelia Rose Earhart

7 p.m. Friday, March 22

When Amelia Rose Earhart decided to honor her namesake, aviation pioneer Amelia Mary Earhart, she did it in the biggest way possible — by becoming the first person to pilot a single-engine Pilatus PC-12-NG around the world. The journey to successfully complete this 28,000 nautical miles flight included challenges and obstacles, but ultimately taught her invaluable lessons about life.

It was an odds-defying achievement that included more than two years of route and logistical planning, extensive flight training, open water survival training, and recruiting, training, and leading a team of 100 people. Utilizing the invaluable concept of a flight plan to achieve her dream, Amelia crafted a strategic business plan to design, fund, and market her flight. In the process, she developed a large and passionate social following and forged almost $2 million in partnerships with 28 corporations. Through the Fly with Amelia Foundation, a nonprofit she founded to foster the next generation of women in aviation, Amelia granted 10 flight training scholarships to women ages 16-18 as she circled the plane over Howland Island, the area of the South Pacific Ocean where Amelia Earhart disappeared.

Amelia’s story of hard work, determination, and dedication resonates deeply with many audiences. She takes them along on her epic flight — from Howland Island to touching down on the same runway where she departed in 1937 — drawing powerful comparisons to how we lead, work as teams, handle turbulence, and boldly journey into uncharted territory with confidence. Amelia has earned rave reviews from audiences ranging from the Fortune 500 to the United States Air Force Academy. Her upcoming book, Learn to Love the Turbulence: Flight Lessons on Becoming the Pilot in Command of Your Own Journey, teaches readers how to navigate the inevitable storms that come with taking flight toward the life we were meant to live.

SooBeen Lee

7 p.m. Thursday, October 26

Violinist SooBeen Lee has been praised by The Washington Post for her “poised presence, a luxurious sound, spot-on intonation, and a bow arm that surely will be the envy of her peers.”

She has already appeared as soloist with every major Korean orchestra, including the Seoul and Busan Philharmonics and KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra. Other distinctions include performances for former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, at the Blue House for the King and Queen of Malaysia, with China’s Wuhan Philharmonic at the Seoul Arts Center, and for many state guests in Korea.

As first-prize winner of the 2014 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, SooBeen was also honored with The Slomovic Soloist Prize for support for her Washington, DC recital debut at the Kennedy Center, the Michaels Award, which provided support for her New York recital debut, and three performance prizes including the Korean Concert Society Prize. SooBeen made her New York concerto debut performing the Chausson Poème with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall.

Additional performances have included the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Gulf Coast and Rockford Symphonies,

the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Plymouth Philharmonic, the Sibelius Concerto with the Longwood Symphony, the Brahms Concerto with the Palm Beach Symphony, and recitals for Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Southern Adventist University, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Abbey Church Events and the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC.

SooBeen plays a Giuseppe Guadagnini Cremona 1794 on loan from Kumho Cultural Foundation.

SooBeen Lee, violinist

Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica

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In the same way a chef de cuisine runs a kitchen, percussionist Brian O’Neill leads a team of five musical creators who deftly collaborate on instruments foreign and domestic to form modernist delicacies for hungry, curious listeners.

From the high arts of jazz and chamber music to adaptations of mid-century exotica and pop art, the quintet version of Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica renders O’Neill’s original compositions and curious adaptions of Bach, Gershwin, Shostakovich and John Adams into cinematic, layered music for armchair travelers ready to journey off road.

While the quintet eschews most of the musical forms, rhythms, and styles of the 1950s exotica sound that inspired O’Neill, it fully embraces the unique genre’s love of escapism, whether through deliberate, out-ofcontext use of global sounds or through jazz improvisation that doesn’t swing and deliberately imitates the rhythm of a skipping record.

On the listener’s plate might be equal parts scratch and sniff, bongos with a fugue, and a cat fight at a piano recital.

In addition to O’Neill’s vibraphone and hand percussion, the quintet features Geni Skendo’s concert flute, bass flute, contrabass flute, and shakuhachi; the highly stylized classical/jazz bassist Mike Harrist; Tev Stevig on the rare trio of oud, cümbü, and resonator guitar; and Jeremy Smith who referees the ensemble’s interactions and improvisations using a bounty of percussion from marching machines to Arabic frame drums.

Mr. Ho’s Orchestrotica

Xavier Foley is known for communicating his virtuosity and passion for music on the double bass, which is rarely presented as a solo instrument.

Xavier is a first-prize winner of the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, winner of the 2014 Sphinx Competition and a 2018 Recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

As a composer, Xavier’s “For Justice and Peace” was premiered by the Sphinx Organization at Carnegie Hall in October 2019 and co-commis-

sioned by both organizations. It has since been performed by such orchestras as the Atlanta Symphony, New West Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Xavier’s bass concerto “Soul Bass,” commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony, was premiered by the orchestra this past March and will be performed again this season with

the Baltimore Symphony under their New Music Director, Jonathon Heyward.

A native of Marietta, Ga., Xavier is an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program, and earned his bachelor of music from the Curtis Institute of Music working with Edgar Meyer and Hal Robinson. His double bass was crafted by Rumano Solano.

Xavier Foley, double bassist