Epstein Fox Presents: Kittel & Co, ETHEL, Maeve Gilchrist

Led by acclaimed violinist Jeremy Kittel (formerly of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet), Kittel & Co. (“Kid-dle and Koh”) inhabits the space between classical and acoustic roots, Celtic and bluegrass aesthetics, and folk and jazz sensibilities. Some of the greatest musicians in the incredible acoustic scene, the members of Kittel & Co. have collaborated with Béla Fleck, Sarah Jarosz, Chris Thile, and Yo-Yo Ma. Together, Jeremy Kittel, mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham and transcendent guitarist Quinn Bachand coalesce into a singular voice that’s thrilled audiences from the Telluride Bluegrass Festival to A Prairie Home Companion. “[Kittel & Co.] takes the string band tradition to marvelously rarefied levels of collective virtuosity…. thrillingly spontaneous” –Times UK. Grammy-nominated Kittel & Co. will get your toes tapping and lift you out of your seat.

Established in NYC in 1998, this quartet of composer-performers—Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin)—fuses uptown panache with downtown genre mashup, ETHEL has released 9 feature albums; guested on 40+ recordings; won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend Kurt Elling; and toured internationally with Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson.

Driven by a collaborative ethos — a quest for common creative expression, forged in listening and community, ETHEL has premiered over 250 works, Commissions include The Ringling Museum of Art, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the NEA. Collaborators include Julia Wolfe, Raven Chacon, David Byrne, Gina Gibney, Grant McDonald, Steve Cosson, and Annie Dorsen. Featured on TED Conferences, ABC Radio Australia, New Sounds, Performance Today, Person Place Thing, Weekend Edition, and on soundtracks Dan In Real Life and Deadwood.

ETHEL is in residence at Denison University, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Petrie Court Café.

Decribed by one critic as “a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity”, Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility.

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Maeve‘s innovative approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. She is as at home as a soloist with an internationally renowned orchestra as she is playing with a traditional Irish folk group or using electronic augmentation in a more contemporary, improvisatory setting.

She tours internationally as a bandleader and composer as well as belonging to a number of innovative collaborations including the prestigious Silkroad Ensemble, Arooj Aftab’s Vulture Prince Ensemble, progressive folk-quartet DuoDuo (featuring percussive dancer Nic Gareiss, cellist Natalie Haas and Yann Falquet of Quebecois super-group Genticorum) and a more electronics based project with Nashville— based bassist Viktor Krauss. She has appeared at such major music events as Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the historic opening of the Scottish Parliament. She has played with such luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Esperanza Spalding, Tony Trishka, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Darol Anger.