Two of the world's most accomplished and innovative banjo artists, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, return to St. Cecilia Music Center February 9

St. Cecilia Music Center brings husband and wife duo Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn back to Royce Auditorium on Saturday, February 9, 2019. Performing last winter 2018, the duo sold out the hall to an adoring crowd. They are thrilled to return to St. Cecilia’s stage to embrace the intimacy and world-class acoustic sound within Royce Auditorium, a 630-seat venue. Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn have been called “the king and queen of the banjo.” 

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn concert tickets are $45 and $50 and can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.scmc-online.org.  A post-concert party with complimentary wine and beer bar is offered to all ticket-holders. All ticket prices include service fees and no additional fees are charged. 

Executive Director of St. Cecilia Music Center Cathy Holbrook says,“Béla and Abigail are two of the most delightful and gracious musicians we’ve hosted in concert. Their warmth and love of music reflects in their amazing show. We are so happy to have them back at St. Cecilia Music Center.” 

In fall 2017, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn released their second full-length studio album together: Echo In The Valley. The 11-track LP includes the two master banjo players playing amazing folk and bluegrass music. More recently, in October 2018, the husband-wife duo released a new single that marries two songs from their second album, which also is the soundtrack for a new music video featuring them with renowned dance company, Pilobolus. 

The new single and video pairs “Come All You Coal Miners”, written by Appalachian ballad singer, activist and wife of a coal miner, Sarah Ogan Gunning, followed by the duo’s own “Take Me to Harlan.”  To celebrate their new release, Fleck and Washburn returned to the road this past fall and are traveling the country together through spring 2019.

Béla Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Abigail Washburn is a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds. Echo in the Valleyis the follow up to Fleck and Washburn’s acclaimed, self-titled debut that earned the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album.  “The mission of Echo in the Valley was to take our double banjo combination of three finger and clawhammer styles to the next level and find things to do together that we had not done before,”says Fleck.  “We’re expressing different emotions through past techniques and going to deeper places.”

SCMC Acoustic Café Folk Series Remaining Concerts 

The Acoustic Café Series, in partnership with the syndicated radio show of the same name, features five remaining folk concerts this season with BélaFleck and Abigail Washburn on Saturday, February 9,The War and Treaty on Sunday, February 24, The Milk Carton Kids on Thursday, February 28, Asleep at the Wheel on Thursday, April 11, andguitar master Leo Kottke on Thursday, April 18. More about these artists below:

• The War and Treaty will perform on Sunday, February 24, 2019. Chilling, soulful, and powerful are just some of the words used by audiences to describe The War and Treaty.  The husband & wife duo blend roots, folk, gospel, and soul, reaching back through their deep-rooted history to conjure up the strength of their ancestors. They are currently on tour, hoping to share songs of reconciliation and humanity, and taking listeners on a soaring, emotional ride.

• Asleep at the Wheel will return to SCMC on Thursday, April 11, 2019. Over their history, Asleep at The Wheel has earned ten GRAMMY Awards and released more than 25 studio and live albums, and there is no sign of them slowing down any time soon. The band’s release, Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, garnered the 2016 GRAMMY Award for Best Recording Package.New Routes, their brand-new album released in September 2018, marks both a new path forward and a nod to their freewheeling roots as one of Texas’ most beloved bands. 

• Guitarist Leo Kottke will return to SCMC on Thursday, April 18, 2019. Over his many years of writing and performing, Kottke has composed scores for film soundtracks, children’s shows, and a symphony, as well as released many albums. Focusing primarily on instrumental composition and playing, Kottke also sings sporadically, in an unconventional yet expressive baritone. In concert, Kottke intersperses humorous monologues with vocal and instrumental selections played solo on his 6- and 12-string guitars. 

Additional concerts within the Jazz Series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Series highlight SCMC’s 2018/2019 season celebrating their 135-year history as the oldest performing arts organization in Grand Rapids and West Michigan. (All concert dates concert dates for all remaining concerts in Winter /Spring 2019 are featured below) 

2018 / 2019 Season Ticket Details

Ticket prices: All ticket prices include service fees and are the same no matter the purchase point. No additional fees will be added. All concerts start at 7:30pm. All concerts include a post-concert party for concert ticket holders. 

SINGLE TICKETS

Folk Series single tickets 

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn – February 9, 2019
A section $50 • B section $45

The War and Treaty – February 24, 2019
A section $35 • B section $30

The Milk Carton Kids – February 28, 2019
A section $45 • B section $40

Asleep at the Wheel – April 11, 2018
A section $43 • B section $28

Leo Kottke – April 18, 2019
A section $40 • B section $35

Jazz Series Single tickets

Joey DeFrancesco – February 7, 2019
A section $40 • B section $35

Benny Green Trio & Veronica Swift – March 7, 2019
A section $45 • B section $40

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Single tickets

CMS of Lincoln Center performs Russian Mastery - March 14, 2019
Works by Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Arensky
A section $45 • B section $40

CMS of Lincoln Center performs From Mendelssohn- April 25, 2019
Works by Mendelssohn, and composers who admired him including Schumann, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky
A section $45 • B section $40