BY KAREN BOSSICK
A Mongolian horse-headed fiddle, Chinese erhu and Scandinavian nyckelharpa will make their debut in Sun Valley when the Sun Valley Museum of Arts presents its 2022-23 Performing Arts Concert Series.
The three styles of violin will take their place with gypsy-style guitar to present the rhythms and melodies of many different cultures in exotic, unique arrangements when Duplessy & the Violins of the World take the stage on Nov. 11.
This winter’s concert series features a diverse lineup of Afro-Mexican, country/folk and other styles at the Argyros Performing Arts Center in Ketchum and Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater in Hailey.
Series tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today—Tuesday, Aug. 30--to SVMoA members. The entire seven concert series package costs $355 for premium seats, $225 for standard seats and $175 for balcony seats.
Individual tickets will be made available to the public at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9. To purchase tickets visit https://svmoa.org or call 208-726-9491.
“From local favorites International Guitar Night to last summer’s Wine Auction hit, Sammy Miller & The Congregation, concertgoers will be treated to an around-the-world variety of talent,” said Kristine Bretall, the Museum’s director of Performing Arts. “By purchasing tickets as the full series of seven concerts now, you can ensure that you’ll get the best seats in the house and not miss a thing.”
The lineup:
LAS CAFETERAS
Friday, Oct. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater, Hailey
Standard seats: $15 member / $25 nonmember / $5 students 18 & under
Premium seats: $30 member / $40 nonmember / $15 student 18 & under
These modern-day troubadours are a sonic explosion of Afro-Mexican rhythms, electronic beats and powerful rhymes that document stories of a community seeking to ‘build a world where many worlds fit.’ Las Cafeteras sing in five distinct languages—English, Spanish, Spanglish, Love and Justice—and they believe everyone understands at least one of those languages.
DUPLESSY & THE VIOLINS OF THE WORLD
Friday, Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m.
The Argyros Performing Arts Center, Ketchum
Balcony seats: $25 member / $35 nonmember / $12.50 student
Standard seats: $35 member / $45 nonmember / $17.50 student
Premium seats: $60 member / $70 nonmember / $30 student
The Violins of The World, which is touring the United States for the first time, is the brainchild of French gypsy guitarist and composer Mathias Duplessy. It features, four virtuosos who bridge the gap between tradition and modernity.
The group consists of Guo Gan from China with his fiddle Erhu; Enkhjargal (Epi) Dandarvaanchig from Mongolia with the horse-headed fiddle and throat singing; and Grammy-nominated American Casey Driessen with the fiddle, backed by Duplessy’s propulsive acoustic guitar.
LAURA CORTESE & THE DANCE CARDS
Thursday, Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m.
The Argyros Performing Arts Center, Ketchum
Balcony seats: $25 member / $35 nonmember / $12.50 student
Standard seats: $35 member / $45 nonmember / $17.50 student
Premium seats: $60 member / $70 nonmember / $30 student
Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards’ sound is bold and elegant, schooled in the lyrical rituals of folk music and backed by grooves that alternately inspire Cajun two-stepping and rock ‘n’ roll swagger. Performing in a trio configuration, Laura Cortese (fiddle), Valerie Thompson (cello) and Zoe Guigueno (bass) produce music as rich and intricate as a symphony and as heartfelt and true as a country classic.
SAMMY MILLER & THE CONGREGATION
Thursday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m.
The Argyros Performing Arts Center, Ketchum
This performance features a limited number of four-seat café tables.
Café tables: $300 (per four-person table) member / $340 nonmember
Balcony seats: $30 member / $40 nonmember / $15 student
Standard seats: $40 member / $50 nonmember / $20 student
Premium seats: $55 member / $65 nonmember / $27.50 student
Based in New York City, Sammy Miller & The Congregation is a seven-piece band that pulls people out of their solitary lives and puts them in the moment with a bracing dose of joyful jazz performed with infectious theatricality. A native of Los Angeles, Juilliard-trained and Grammy-nominated drummer Sammy Miller has been hailed as "the perfect player scholar” by The Wall Street Journal.
From Lincoln Center to The White House, the Newport Jazz Festival to Umbria Jazz, with wide-ranging special guests including Wynton Marsalis and Bill Irwin (1984 MacArthur Genius winner), The Congregation has brought a new perspective on jazz to a new generation of listeners. In addition to touring with OneRepublic, Mavis Staples or The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Congregation has dedicated countless hours to working with over 60,000 students across the world using their groundbreaking PLAYBOOK platform.
INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT
Saturday and Sunday, March 4 and 5, 7:30 p.m.
The Argyros Performing Arts Center, Ketchum
Balcony seats: $30 member / $40 nonmember / $15 student
Standard seats: $40 member / $50 nonmember / $20 student
Premium seats: $65 member / $75 nonmember / $32.50 student
For the 23rd year of International Guitar Night’s tour, taking the stage will be Jocelyn Gould, a Canadian jazz guitarist and vocalist who received the 2021 Juno Award for Jazz Album of The Year. She will be joined by Flamenco master Jesus Guerrero from Spain, contemporary classical guitarist Stephanie Jones from Australia, and gypsy jazz guitarist Olli Soikkeli from Finland.
PARLOR IN THE ROUND
Friday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.
The Argyros Performing Arts Center, Ketchum
Balcony seats: $25 member / $35 nonmember / $12.50 student
Standard seats: $35 member / $45 nonmember / $17.50 student
Premium seats: $60 member / $70 nonmember / $30 student
Feels like dinner theater. Sounds like a house concert. Looks like improv comedy. This evening is like none other—singer-songwriters onstage will sing each other’s songs, trade tales and create a brand-new song on the spot that integrates audience input.
Created in Alaska, Parlor in the Round is an evening of human moments made up of storytelling and creativity of musicians who forge songs on stage from audience suggestions. Parlor in the Round is a mashup of singer-songwriters and host Kevin Worrell that creates songs on the spot. Borrowing from the guitar tradition of porches and campfires, songwriters from Idaho and some beyond will trade songs and stories as they inspire each other.
In the first half of the show, songwriters will play their own music and cover each other’s songs. Then, after they gather during intermission, the musicians dive into collaborations, jocular inventions and premeditated musings based on written submissions from the audience.
MAIAH WYNNE
Friday, April 7, 7:30 p.m.
The Argyros Performing Arts Center, Ketchum
General admission: $25 member / $35 nonmember / $10 student
An award-winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Maiah delivers powerful, universally resonant lyrics with a hauntingly beautiful voice layered in sophisticated and emotive folk/pop soundscapes. Varied timbres of dulcimer, keyboards, mandolin, ukulele, banjo, guitar and percussion reveal her multitalented musical facility and amplify her ethereal vocal lines.
MUSICIANS TO SHARE TALENTS WITH LOCAL STUDENTS
SVMoA’s Performing Arts Residency will take these musicians to the stages and classrooms of Blaine County for life performances and/or intimate workshops. The Museum reaches an annual audience of 40,000 through its musical workshops and performances, visual arts exhibitions, lectures and other projects.