Brittany and Natalie Haas, Wednesday, April 24, 7-9, Whately Town Hall Get tix HERE. This show is SOLD OUT!

Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation. Born in Northern California, Brittany grew up honing her craft at string camps nationwide, and developed her unique style of fiddling at the influence of her mentors, Bruce Molsky and Darol Anger. A prodigious youth, Haas began touring with Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings at the age of fourteen. At seventeen, she released her debut, self-titled solo album (produced by Anger). Haas continued to tour and record while simultaneously earning a degree in Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University (where she also minored in Music Performance). It was during her time at Princeton that Brittany was asked to join the seminal “chamber-grass” band Crooked Still, with whom she has made four recordings and toured the world.

Haas has always been a much sought-after collaborator and session musician. She has performed on Late Night With David Letterman and Saturday Night Live as part of Steve Martin’s bluegrass band, and features on Martin’s Grammy-winning album “The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.” Over the years, she has performed with Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Tony Trischka, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Waybacks, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (her cellist sister), and more.

Natalie is one of the most sought after cellists playing traditional music today. She and Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser have toured as a duo for over twenty three years, wowing audiences at festivals and concerts worldwide with their unique sound. Their first album together, Fire & Grace, was awarded Best Album of the Year in the Scots Trad Music Awards 2004. Natalie has also toured with Mark O'Connor as a member of his Appalachia Waltz Trio. She and O'Connor premiered his double concerto for violin and cello, ¨For The Heroes¨, with the Grand Rapids, East Texas, and San Diego Symphonies. As a studio musician, Natalie has been a guest artist on over 100 albums, including those of Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster, Irish greats Altan, Solas, and Liz Carroll, and Americana icon Dirk Powell. 

A graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with cellist Fred Sherry, Natalie discovered the cello at age nine. In addition to having extensive classical music training, she is accomplished in a broad array of fiddle genres. Her music journey found purpose when she fell in love with Celtic music at the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School at age 11. Inspired and encouraged by director Fraser, she began to investigate the cello's potential for rhythmic accompaniment to fiddle tunes, and to this day, the two continue to resurrect and reinvent the cello's historic role in Scottish music.

Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin and Steven Beck, harpsichord playing Bach sonatas. A concrt to benefit Ukrinian musicians. Wednesday, May 22, 7.30 pm, the West Whately Chapel. Tix HERE. For more information, go to watermelonwednesdays.com.

Solomiya Ivakhiv, a native of Ukraine, is Associate Professor of Violin and Viola and Head of Strings at the University of Connecticut and Professor of Violin at Longy School of Music of Bard College. Ms. Ivakhiv graduated with honors from Curtis Institute of Music, where she was concertmaster of both the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and studied with Joseph Silverstein, Pamela Frank and the late Rafael Druian. Ms. Ivakhiv received her Master of Music degree from M. Lysenko Music Academy in Lviv, Ukraine, studying with Oresta Kohut, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, where she studied with Pamela Frank and Philip Setzer.

She has performed in solo and chamber recitals at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, CBC Glenn Gould Studio, Curtis Institute Field Concert Hall, Italian Academy in New York City, Pickman Hall in Cambridge, MA, San Jose Chamber Music Society, Old First Concerts in San Francisco, Astoria Music Festival (Portland), Tchaikovsky Hall in Kyiv, Concertgebouw Mirror Hall, and at UConn’s Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. Featured appearances at prestigious national and international chamber music festivals include Tanglewood, The Embassy Series in Washington, Emerson Quartet Festival, Astoria Music Festival, San Jose Chamber Music Society, Newport Music Festival, Nevada Chamber Music Festival, Bach Festival of Philadelphia, The Banff Centre and Ottawa ChamberFest (Canada), Musique de Chambre à Giverny (France), Prussia Cove (England), Verbier Festival and Kammermusik Bodensee (Switzerland), AlpenKammerMusik (Austria), Modern Music “Contrasts” and KyivFest (Ukraine).

A dedicated educator, Solomiya Ivakhiv has led master classes and coached chamber music at Yale, Columbia, Penn State, University of Hartford Hartt School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Curtis Summer Fest, University of Maryland, Bard College Prep, SUNY – Fredonia Universities, Oberlin, Guangzhou and Hunan Conservatories in China, and regularly collaborates with high schools in outreach programs throughout the United States. She is a member of the American String Teachers Association-Connecticut Chapter.

Steven Beck is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where his teachers were Seymour Lipkin, Peter Serkin and Bruce Brubaker.

Mr. Beck made his concerto debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, and has toured Japan as soloist with the New York Symphonic Ensemble.  His annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic has become a New York institution. He has also performed as soloist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and Miller Theater, as well as on WNYC; summer appearances have been at the Aspen Music Festival and Lincoln Center Out of Doors.  He has performed as a musician with the New York City Ballet and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and as an orchestral musician he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and Orpheus.

Mr. Beck is an experienced performer of new music, having worked with Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, Charles Wuorinen, George Crumb, George Perle, and Fred Lerdahl. He is a member of the Knights, the Talea Ensemble, Quattro Mani, and the Da Capo Chamber Players.  His discography includes George Walker’s piano sonatas, for Bridge Records, and Elliott Carter’s “Double Concerto” on Albany Records. He is a Steinway Artist.

He will be bringing his own harpsichord to the West Whately Chapel.

The EarRegulars, Wednesday, June 12th, 7.30pm, West Whately Chapel. New Orleans Jazz with a New York flavor. Tix HERE!

The EarRegulars are an irreVibrant and vital jazz, even though some of the repertoire is 100 years old. The band, The EarRegulars, was founded by Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri and is led by Kellso. The band is usually a four-piece combo with friends sitting in.gular band of jazz musicians led by guitarist Matt Ministeri, and trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso. Matt is a WW alum who played here in 2011 with Matt Glaser, violin, and Sony Bonato on accordion. Jon-Erik Kellso and Matt Munisteri founded The EarRegulars in 2007, but that band is just one of the many credits to their names. They've both recorded albums under their own names and with their own bands and appear on countless artists albums. They are first call session musicians whenever someone is recording any sort of traditional jazz and other genres of music. They play Sunday nights at the New York bar in the West Village called the Ear Inn, hence the band's name. They play what might be described as traditional New Orleans style jazz, but don't let the word traditional fool you into believing that this is some sort of nostalgia act. Although the songs they play are old, a lot of them from the '20s and '30s, their performances are as exciting and lively as anything out there. They have a new album. It's called "Live At The Ear Inn." (Most of this description is from an interview with Jon and Matt on NPR’s Fresh Air.)

Sister Sadie, Thursday, June 27, 7.30pm, Whately Town Hall. Tickets HERE.

Sister Sadie is a hot bluegrass combined with breathtaking instrumental drive and awe-inspiring vocals. Comprised of original members Deanie Richardson (fiddle), Gena Britt (banjo & vocals) and newcomers Jaelee Roberts (guitar & vocals), Dani Flowers (guitar & vocals), and Maddie Dalton (acoustic bass & vocals), Sister Sadie has combined the varied talents of each of the individual women in the lineup to create something that is far more than the sum of its parts.

Originally formed as a pickup band in December of 2012, Sister Sadie has reached heights beyond
any of their dreams. In 2019, they won their first IBMA award as a band, named the Vocal Group of
the Year. They debuted on the Grand Ole Opry. Their album “Sister Sadie II” was nominated for a
GRAMMY. And it’s only picked up steam since then. 2020 brought with it another wave of IBMA
Awards: Fiddle Player of the Year for Deanie Richardson, their second Vocal Group of the Year award,
and their first Entertainer of the Year award—the highest award in all of bluegrass. In 2021, Sister
Sadie was featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s American Currents exhibit. The
same year, the band took home a third consecutive IBMA Vocal Group of the Year award, and new
member Jaelee Roberts was awarded the IBMA Momentum Vocalist of the Year award. In 2022, Gena
Britt was recognized as the SPBGMA Banjo Player of the Year and Sister Sadie signed with Mountain
Home Records to begin work on their third studio album. And lastly in 2023, Jaelee Roberts took
home the honor of SPBGMA Female Vocalist of the Year.

Cory Pesaturo, accordion, and Nahre Sol, piano, Wednesday, July 10th, 7.30pm, West Whately Chapel. Tix HERE.

  Prepare for the Duo of World Champion Electric Accordionist meets World Renowned Pianist. 

Cory Pesaturo is known for playing a wide variety of genres from Classical to Balkan, Jazz to French, Brazilian to Electronic, improvising on all without missing a beat.  The only person to ever win the trio of World Championships on Acoustic, Digital & Jazz Accordion, a Guinness World Record Holder, and the only Accordion graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Cory has performed on six continents, and given five TED Talks about the accordion, its history, and place in music.

    Pesaturo's extensive resumé includes appearances at the White House for President and Mrs. Clinton on 4 different occasions, starting at age 12, and eight other appearances for the Clintons. Some National TV appearances include the Late Show with David Letterman, performing with Johnny Depp, CBS’s Let’s Make a Deal, Fox News’s Fox and Friends, and NBC’s That’s My Jam with Jimmy Fallon. His Viral Video on Chopin and Jazz with Nahre Sol has been viewed over 9 Million Times. He has also appeared on nationally televised programs in New Zealand, England, Canada, Italy, Tunisia, France, Saudi Arabia and Finland. He has headlined at the Cotati Accordion Festival in CA; this is an amazing congregation of accordion players from around the world; I had no idea!  

Along with improvisation, Pesaturo is known for his extensive versatility, playing 15 different genres from Klezmer to French, Balkan to Funk, Tango to Rock, Italian to Bazilian, Classical Music to Electronic. More known as a Jazz Artist, he has earned the respect of those such as Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis, and recorded & performed with jazz figures such as John Patitucci and George Garzone. For his Classical side which is lesser known, a win in a concerto competition at 16 years old gave Pesaturo the rare opportunity to perform with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra as a featured soloist, where he became the youngest accordionist to ever solo with a symphony orchestra in the USA. He has since performed with the Boston Symphony multiple times including at Symphony Hall, and the Boston Pops under John Williams. The instruments most famous legend in the US, Dick Contino, said of Cory when he was only 15, “Of all the accordionists I’ve seen over the years, Cory is the one to pass the torch to, the only one who has all the tools to bring the accordion back to its former glory.”  Guido Deiro’s son, the “Father of Piano Accordion”, has stated “I’ve worried greatly about the future of the accordion since my father died, but not anymore since seeing & hearing Cory.”

If you were worried Classical music was losing its grip on young people, fear not!  Nahre Sol has over 1 Million Followers on Social Media for her skills on piano and composition.  A graduate of Juilliard as well as the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Sol is not just a star in the Classical world, but has also worked with the biggest star in Jazz, Jacob Collier.  Nahre Sol is best known for her YouTube channel,[14] with around 710,000 subscribers as of April 2024,[15] and as being co-host of the PBS Digital Studios show "Sound Field".[16] She has also been a guest host of NPR's Performance Today. As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed at venues across North America and Europe, including The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Gusman Theatre in Miami, in addition to numerous spaces in Canada, France, Holland, Italy, Poland, and Germany. In 2013 she was a recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Grant, which enabled her to study in Paris under Gabriel Tacchino and Narcis Bonet, pupils of Francis Poulenc and Nadia Boulanger.

Cory and Nahre's connection occurred over a love of Chopin. Their video on Chopin arguably being the father of Jazz has almost 10 Million Views.  The two of them will create a concert encompassing Chopin and Jazz, but additionally travel through different genres around the world that both of them have collaborated in, but done in ways you have never heard.  

Larry & Joe, Wednesday, July 24th, 7.30pm, West Whately Chapel. Tix HERE.

Larry Bellorín hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is from North Carolina and is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. Larry worked construction to make ends meet. Joe's acclaimed "latingrass" band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants. Then Larry met Joe.

Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both men are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. The program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.

The above is only the tip of the iceberg that is Larry & Joe. I don’t have space hear to tell more about these amazing musicians. You should go to https://www.larryandjoe.com/about for a more in-depth and fascinating story about these two. Better than that, you should be sure to buy your tickets asap. This might be your last chance to hear them in such an intimate setting.

Lonesome Ace String Band, Wednesday, July 31, 7.30pm, West Whately Chapel. TIX HERE.

The trio’s sound is anchored in the fiddle and clawhammer banjo of John Showman and Chris Coole. They are joined by a rotating cast of extraordinary upright bassists (including founding member Max Malone, James Mceleney, and Lotus Wight). The band moves freely between a sound so commanding it doesn’t seem like it should be coming from a stringband, to a sparse fragility that draws the listener closer.  Whether singing about climate change, modern love, BBQ techniques or life's inevitable existential crises, the band cuts to the core. They can also turn and churn out a tune with so much verve that it will make your heart spin and set the dance floor swirling.

Outside of their trio work, each musician is a veteran of the Canadian music scene, sought after for teaching camps, recording sessions and touring with some of the best artists in North America.  I saw there people at Hawks and Reed a year or two ago, and they knocked my socks off. They are great musicians and they are a lot of fun! What more could you ask for? 

The Sensational Barnes Brothers, Wednesday, August 7th, 7.30pm, West Whately Chapel. Tix HERE.

The Sensational Barnes Brothers are a musical blend of old and new, a real gem in the gospel/soul scene. As PopMatters states, “The brothers run through a spectrum of moods and modes in their gospel soul, often bridging the gap between, say, the Soul Stirrers and Stax, all the while keeping a local flavor.” The brothers can dive deep into their roots, creating a sound that reflects the music of their history, all the while drawing in a modern-day audience. They are a truly crossover band (there are the two brothers and five backup personnel).

The Sensational Barnes Brothers are featured on vocalist Don Bryant’s Grammy-nominated album "Don't Give Up on Love," and you can also hear them on several tracks from the album XOPA by Latin Grammy-nominated Making Movies. The band has also recorded with the lead singer of The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach. They are also featured performers at Bluegrass festivals such as Telluride and Merlefest, showing off their incredibly tight and melodic vocals.

These talented brothers made their mark with their first album - Nobody’s Fault But My Own.  Inspired by their shared past, fueled by harmonies that resonate with both their blood and their kindred souls, The Sensational Barnes Brothers are here to stay, singing, playing, and dancing for a long, long time. Their new album of all originals will be released in fall 2024.

The brothers have not made their presence known on the East Coast yet.  However, they've taken the West by storm.  This will be there second appearance on the main stage of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival (along with Larry and Joe who are playing at the Chapel here July 24th and Watermelon alumnae: Sierra Hull, AJ Lee, and Molly Tuttle, ).  This is a chance to see them before they are too big for Watermelon Wednesdays.

Rayna Gellert and Kieran Kane, Wednesday, August 28, 7.30pm, West Whately Chapel. Tix HERE.

Kieran Kane’s seminal work in The O'Kanes and Kane Welch Kaplin, as well as co-founding the independent label Dead Reckoning Records, laid the foundation for the contemporary world of Americana music. A successful solo artist, collaborator, and songwriter (with songs recorded by Alan Jackson, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, and many more), Kieran is a musician's musician: his playing is always understated, always groove-oriented, and always serving the song.

If Rayna Gellert seems a preternaturally gifted songwriter, it’s because she’s seen farther into the old songs than most. Growing up in a musical family, she turned to Appalachian old-time music at a young age, becoming a prodigious fiddler and leading a new revival of American stringband music through her work with the acclaimed roots band Uncle Earl. An in-demand collaborator, she has toured and recorded with artists such as Scott Miller, Abigail Washburn, Toubab Krewe, and Robyn Hitchcock.

Kieran and Rayna tap sap from the trees of country, old-time, Bluegrass, folk, Americana and boil ‘em down to a rich and sweet (but not too sweet) syrup that you have to taste to believe.

Mister Sun, Wednesday, September 11, 7.30, West Whately Chapel. Tix HERE.

Legendary fiddler Darol Anger is at home in a number of musical genres, some of which he helped to invent, and is a member of the original "nuclear" generation of pickers who extended Bluegrass, Jazz, and Classical music to find their common ground; Mr Sun is the latest iteration in that legacy. Joe K. Walsh is one of the foremost contemporary mandolinists, with 4 award-winning years in the Gibson Brothers, 3 solo recordings, and a Berklee professorship. Grant Gordy is a standout in the crowded field of Acoustic Guitar Wunderkinds. Grant's work was quickly recognized for its kaleidoscopic excellence and startling emotion, fusing Jazz, R&B, and Bluegrass concepts to an unprecedented degree. The group recently added the masterful bassist Aidan O'Donnell, a Brooklyn, New York (by way of Scotland) jazz veteran.

The 4 musical personalities of Mr Sun are so strong that one might imagine the group could explode if not for the palpable love and humor that emanate from every note they play together.

Ball in the House, Sunday, November 3, 3pm, Whately Town Hall

Ball in the House is an R&B/Soul/Pop a cappella group based out of Boston, MA, whose high energy shows have audiences singing, dancing, even beatboxing along. With their extensive tour schedule (averaging 200 shows a year), Ball in the House has performed everywhere - from theaters to performing arts centers, fairs & festivals, to opening for some of the biggest acts in the world, such as The Beach Boys, The Jonas Brothers, The Temptations, Fantasia, Gladys Knight, Lionel Richie, Jessica Simpson, Blondie, Smokey Robinson, KC & The Sunshine Band, Diamond Rio, Colin Raye, Orleans, and numerous others. They headlined the 2018 & 2016 China International Chorus Festival in Beijing, won the 2016 Boston Harmony Sweepstakes, and were voted 2014 APCA Band of the Year and 2009 Best of Boston for Outstanding Musical Performers. For six years, they were the voices behind all the Cool Whip commercials and recently wrote and performed the jingle for Amazon’s Prime Day. Ball in the House has appeared on America’s Got Talent, The TODAY Show, The Daily Buzz, the Philadelphia 4th of July Parade, and SBS Culture Club and MBC News in Seoul, South Korea.

BALL IN THE HOUSE IS: Kevin Guest - vocal bass; Monty Hill - baritone; Tyler Nordin - tenor; Jonny Ryan - beatbox; Wallace Thomas - tenor