Spencer Memorial Concert Series David Burgess: Latin Guitar Sunday, September 26, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
David Burgess is recognized as one of the outstanding Latin guitar artists in the world, having traveled, researched and performed extensively throughout Latin America. His performance, “500 Years of Spanish Music in the Americas” will include music from the time of Columbus, Inca Indian melodies, Argentine tangos, Brazilian sambas, Caribbean merengues, with a special emphasis on contemporary Brazilian contemporary works. Andrés Segovia, Burgess’s teacher, said that he was “an artist of music with a magnificent technique.”
Spencer Memorial Concert Series Rootstone Jug Band Sunday, October 24, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
Rootstone Jug Band is a group of versatile young musicians who conjure the ancient strains of American music. They have revived the sounds of Memphis's great jug bands and songsters, Mississippi's blues and fiddle masters, and the blues greats and superb string bands of the Carolina Piedmont. Around one mic, they sing the songs with their regional accents and use a rotating array of guitars, banjos, fiddle, upright bass, washboard, jug, and harmonica to make music in full harmony with the ghosts of 400 years of American Roots Music.
Spencer Memorial Concert Series John Doyle: Celebration of Irish Music Sunday, November 21, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
Guitarist and vocalist John Doyle is one of the central figures in the ongoing renaissance of Irish traditional music, both in Europe and the United States. Both preserving the tasteful simplicity of tradition as well as adding a contemporary edge, Doyle is known for his hard-driving strumming and powerful rhythmic effects borrowed from traditional instruments like the bodhran and fiddle. Within the last year, he was nominated with fiddler Liz Carroll for a Grammy Award for the album Double Play as well as playing for President Obama at a St. Patrick’s Day luncheon.
Spencer Memorial Concert Series Virginia Virtuosi: A Holiday Concert Sunday, December 12, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
Holiday-inspired music will highlight a concert by Virginia Virtuosi, one of the Washington, D.C.-area’s most acclaimed chamber groups, featuring Nancy Jin on violin, Tiffany Richardson on viola and Mark Bergman on bass. The group incorporates classical, contemporary, and popular music to make “classical music cool” as the Fairfax Connection reviewer observed. The group has recently played at the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery.
Spencer Memorial Concert Series Wayne Henderson and Helen White: Traditional Appalachian Music Sunday, January 30, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
Wayne Henderson is a national treasure (honored with a National Heritage Award) for his craftsmanship as a luthier and his renowned finger-style Appalachian guitar playing. Helen White is an award-winning singer and composer in her own right and has toured extensively with Henderson, playing back-up guitar, fiddling and singing. A recent book Clapton’s Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument follows the process by which Henderson built a guitar for the legendary Eric Clapton.
Spencer Memorial Concert Series Robert Jospé and Inner Rhythm Sunday, February 20, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
Drummer and composer Robert Jospé is known for his inventive use of rhythmic styles incorporating salsa, samba, swing, funk and African rhythms into his own unique and distinctive style of contemporary jazz. Jospé and his jazz trio---Adam Larrabee on guitar and Randall Pharr on bass---performing throughout the mid-Atlantic region for twenty years. Jospé teaches jazz drumming at the University of Virginia—Charlottesville.
Spencer Memorial Concert Series Padmarani Rasiah Cantu: Indian Music and Dance Sunday, March 13, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
Padmarani Rasiah Cantu will perform the Bharatha Natyam, an ancient classical dance form from India that is acknowledged as one of the world’s oldest art forms. The dance showcases Indian mythology through theatrical entertainment and music, expressive gestures, colorful costumes, sparkling jewelry and ankle bells. Cantu has an international reputation, but she is based in Richmond and Charlottesville where she teaches dance and yoga classes.
Spencer Memorial Concert Series William Feasley: “Echoes of Goya” Sunday, April 3, 3:00 p.m. William King Museum $10.00 for Community Admission
In anticipation of an exhibition Treasures of World Art: Goya, Dali and More opening April 7 at the William King Museum, guitarist William Feasley will perform a multimedia concert related to Goya and music. Images of Goya’s work will be projected as music from his era is played, music that inspired him, and several pieces by contemporary composers and Feasley himself that have been inspired by Goya. Feasley has performed extensively around the world.