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Ardently exploring the origins of American music in jazz, blues, country and western swing, singer and guitarist Pokey Lafarge seems like a throwback, yet the music he plays never sounds old-fashioned. In this episode, we listen to Pokey Lafarge’s final performance of four given at the 2014 Savannah Music Festival.

When your personal goal as a musician is to pull the audience in so that they feel like they’re a part of the ride, then you’re making what Christian McBride calls “people music.” That’s the mantra that McBride has lived by throughout his career, which combined with his abundant virtuosity, has made him the most…

Legend has it that when Coleman Hawkins squared off against Lester Young in a late night jam in the late 1930s at a Kansas City nightclub, a new saxophone king was crowned who would forever be known as “Prez.” Each year, SMF presents a late night jam to wrap up a week of Swing Central…

The history of flamenco dates back to 1774 when it first began to appear in literature. With roots from Andalusia and the Romani people from Spain, its format usually involves singers, guitarists, dancers and the iconic sound of hand clapping. Most of the artists performing flamenco come from family traditions, including 33-year old cantora Estrella…

Tuned a perfect fifth above the violin and an octave below the cello, the viola makes a unique and beautiful sound. In the spring of 2014, the esteemed British violist Philip Dukes created the idea for a concert celebrating the 80th birthday of the renowned Michael Tree. The performance featured a selection of works spanning…

The string instrument that turns a quartet into a quintet varies with each composer or work. Mozart added a viola, Schubert, a cello, but Antonin Dvorak chose the double bass for his G Major String Quintet, matching the full palette of the symphony orchestra. In this episode of Savannah Music Festival LIVE, we listen to…

Every spring, sixteen talented young string players, all under the age of 22, travel to Savannah for a groundbreaking mentorship program called the Acoustic Music Seminar. Led by acclaimed mandolinist Mike Marshall, the participants receive six days of hands-on instruction in playing, songwriting and ensemble work. Past instructors have included Julian Lage, Casey Driessen, Avi…

The use and development of folk music by classical composers in the 19th century often echoed the traditional music of their homelands. The rise of nationalistic elements into works by such notable figures as Chopin, Sibelius and Rimsky Korsakov occasionally relied on folk music from their native lands as inspiration, as did Edvard Grieg with…

Every spring for the past eleven years, violinist Daniel Hope has assembled an array of his friends from Europe and the United States to perform in a series of chamber music concerts at the Savannah Music Festival. Playing some of the great masterpieces of the idiom, these musicians rehearse each program across several days in…

In the year 2000, roots music mavens Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott joined forces to create a recording of old-time country covers and originals, which turned quite a few heads. But it took another twelve years for them to record together again, a span when their respective careers grew and blossomed into a myriad of…

One of the annual highlights of the Savannah Music Festival is a concert we produce called “Piano Showdown”. It brings together four jazz pianists and allows them to display their original interpretation of songs in both solo and duo settings, with the only requirement being that every pianist has to play at least two songs…

For lovers of the mandolin, an instrument that first came about nearly 400 years ago, it’s hard not to appreciate the many virtuosos that have emerged in the past half century and blended extensive musical styles. Two of the most unique and extraordinary mandolinists in our time are Mike Marshall and Chris Thile, who have…

Nearly every year since 2004, the Savannah Music Festival has lined up four different jazz pianists in a concert that showcases not only their individual talent, but also their ability to perform duets with each of the other pianists on the bill. This episode features highlights from Piano Showdown 2014 with Christian Sands, Aaron Diehl,…

Johannes Brahms spent many years attempting to write string quartets. Working under the shadow of Beethoven was too challenging for the young composer and it believed that he discarded as many as twenty quartets before finally publishing his first two in 1873. In this episode, we listen to the acclaimed Jerusalem Quartet perform Brahms String…

Though they’ve played as a duo since they first met, trying impromptu duets at picking parties, doing a few tunes at benefits and playing occasional radio shows together, that was long before they got married and took the show on the road. With the birth of their little boy in the summer of summer of…

When pianist and composer John Lewis formed the Modern Jazz Quartet in the early 1950s, he established an almost classical sounding chamber music ensemble by devising an approach that evenly distributed improvisation inside of compositions distinctly arranged for piano, vibraphone, bass and drums. In this episode, we listen to pianist Aaron Diehl playing the music…

Finish the gig around midnight, meet and greet folks after the show, give a quick lesson to some young fans, then hop on the bus and drive to the next city, in search of a few hours of shuteye on the road. Check into the hotel at 4 a.m., grab a bit more sleep before…

When guitarists Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge formed a collaborative effort using early 20th century Martin Guitars to explore the worlds of improvisation and composition, no one should have been surprised. With Lage’s background in jazz and improvised musical styles, and Eldridge’s relationship with bluegrass and his membership in the acclaimed band Punch Brothers, the…

Many of the most notable achievements in jazz have come through its great composers. Giants such as Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and many others always kept the music moving forward through the creation and performance of new compositions. In this episode, we listen to the premiere of new…

People who love jazz singing seem to always be hoping to discover the next Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald. Until very recently, the only contemporary jazz singer who came close to matching these three giants is the extraordinary Dianne Reeves, that is, until the emergence of Cécile McLorin Salvant. At age 24, this…

Since 2004, violinist Daniel Hope has served as the Associate Artistic Director for the Savannah Music Festival, where he programs an assortment of chamber music across 17 days. Part of his vision for the festival was to bring together his European colleagues with some of his favorite American musicians, something he believes doesn’t happen nearly…

Though he is often grouped with Bach and Beethoven as one of the three “B’s” of German musical composers, Johannes Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. During his lifetime, Brahms’ popularity and influence were considerable, and he created some of the great…

In 2014, SMF hosted the US premiere of a piece that we co-commissioned by composer David Bruce. Entitled “The Given Note” (after a poem by Irish poet Seamus Haney), this Savannah performance of the piece featured Daniel Hope on violin, Julian Lage on guitar, Rodney Jordan on bass, Mike Block on cello and Jose Franch…

In anticipation of SMF’s 25th Anniversary Season, we produced a special radio program featuring Associate Artistic Director Daniel Hope as host. The episode includes highlights from past years of SMF chamber music, with artists such as Daniel Hope, Sebastian Knauer, Anne Sofie von Otter, Mark Padmore & Kristian Bezuidenhout, the Ebene Quartet, the Emerson String…

In the ten festivals since 2005, one of our favorite and regularly featured artists has been pianist Sebastian Knauer, who plays in our chamber music series curated by his friend and colleague Daniel Hope. In this episode we listen to Mr. Knauer’s opening day recital at Savannah Music Festival 2014, recorded live at the Trinity…

If you ever wondered when the last time a work was written for a piano trio and a string quartet together, well, it’s only happened once. In 2009, composer Ellen Taffe Zwilich wrote a work entitled “Septet” especially for the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and the Miami String Quartet, two groups with strong personalities. Tune in to…

Composer, arranger and conductor Robert Sadin has produced some of the most interesting recordings of the past decade. Working with a diverse array of musicians including Sting, Herbie Hancock, Kathleen Battle, Stevie Wonder, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, his musical palette often sounds ancient but is always modern. In this episode, we listen to a…

For many people, the term “music festival” implies a large, outdoor gathering held over the course of a few days featuring numerous bands on multiple stages. Though there are several such festivals that I regularly visit (WOMAD and Festival International are two favorites), attending outdoor concerts is a very different experience, demanding important decisions related to…