Composer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Siems has built a national and international reputation for his jazz, blues, and avant-garde compositions as well as his virtuosic guitar playing. For this CD project centered on the cello (his first instrument), he confined himself to a more purely classical vocabulary than he has ever employed before. The result was a remarkable blossoming of his creativity and lyricism.
The genesis of the project was Siems’ discovery of the extraordinary life of Beryl Markham, and subsequently, of a host of other female pilots who took to the skies during the first half of the twentieth century. Astonished that such an array of heroic figures had been so blatantly written out of the history books, he searched for a way to pay them a fitting tribute. In the end, only one memorial made sense. So come learn some beautiful and important herstory as you listen to soul-stirring music that ranges from meditative spirituality to explosions of passionate energy. Be inspired to Write Her Name on the Sky.
Featured performers include Ed Cadman, the epitome of a cellist’s cellist, Megan Scott whose improvisations might best be described as performative dreaming, Amanda Burgdorf, whose tender sense of melody poignantly humanizes every note she plays, and violin powerhouse Lydia Lui, who has no trouble igniting the upper registers all on her own. Siems himself will play cello before taking up his well-known guitar for the heart-pounding show closer.
Sunday June 15 at 7:00pm (doors 6:00) $6-$12 sliding scale