Béla Fleck will present the world premiere of his Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra — one of the first ever written for the instrument — with the Nashville Symphony on September 22-24 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. To be performed by Fleck on his vintage 1937 mahogany Gibson Mastertone banjo, the Concerto marks a significant new departure for Fleck, who calls the piece "a liberating experience for my efforts as a composer and hopefully for the banjo as well." Commissioned by the Nashville Symphony, Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra will be the centerpiece of the orchestra’s opening concerts in the 2011/12 SunTrust Classical Series.

Given the names Béla (for Bartók), Anton (for Webern) and Leoš (for Janáčék), Fleck seems to have been destined to play classical music. Having launched a prolific and wildly successful career as a genre-melding instrumentalist, first with the New Grass Revival and later with the Flecktones, he made the classical connection with his 2001 solo album Perpetual Motion. Released on Sony Classical, the recording went on to win a pair of GRAMMYs®, including Best Classical Crossover Album. Fleck has won a total of 14 GRAMMYs®, and, with 30 nominations, he has been nominated in more different categories than anyone in GRAMMY® history.

Fleck dedicates his new Concerto to pioneering banjoist Earl Scruggs, who first inspired him to take up the instrument. The composer says that the piece reflects the dual influences of classical music and bluegrass. “You can hear an evolution in my own writing of the piece as it goes on,” he observes, noting that he wanted to “explore the new possibilities of the banjo as a member or the orchestra, while respecting its roots in bluegrass and jazz.”

Concerto for Banjo and Orchestra is perfectly matched at the Nashville Symphony concerts with Aaron Copland’s famous Appalachian Spring, which celebrates the American spirit with music of breathtaking beauty and directness. Concluding the performance is Tchaikovsky’s larger-than-life Fourth Symphony, the Russian composer’s favorite piece, which sweeps the audience with an emotional palette that ranges from melancholy to exuberance. The Thursday, September 22, performance will be webcast live via the Nashville Symphony’s website.

MassJazz has released its annual schedule of jazz and blues festivals and outdoor concerts taking place in Massachusetts this summer and fall. The schedule includes a dozen outdoor jazz festivals across the Commonwealth, plus hundreds of outdoor concerts taking place in city parks and town squares, at museums and cultural venues, and at tourist spots around the state.

“Massachusetts has a lot to offer visitors, from our champion sports teams and our rich history to the stunning landscapes and abundance of cultural riches,” said Betsy Wall, executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.  “It’s all here and the vibrant music scene – especially jazz and blues - is another great reason to spend time in the Commonwealth this summer. ”

The Massachusetts festival season kicks off with the Hoop City Jazz & Art Festival in Springfield on July 8-10 and ends with the Pittsfield Jazz Festival in western Massachusetts on October 7-20.  Wall pointed to the strong jazz presence across Massachusetts, with festivals or concerts taking place in every region of the state.

“For tourists who savor jazz and blues – two of America’s greatest art forms – Massachusetts has a terrific slate of festivals and outdoor events this season,” said MassJazz founder Michael P. Quinlin.  “And add to that the jazz clubs, campus events, and live jazz brunches at hotels and restaurants, and you have a music lover’s paradise.”

In July, MassJazz is issuing its 3rd annual MassJazz Travel Guide, a free 40-page magazine with jazz profiles, stories and listings on the state's vibrant jazz scene.  The Guide is available at jazz venues, tourism kiosks, and cultural sports around Massachusetts.

Formed in 2009, MassJazz promotes the state’s jazz scene year round to the travel industry, in concert with Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism and other partners.  For more details on jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

Click here for Jazz Festivals | Click here for Outdoor Concert Series.

In celebration of the park bench, dribbly-nosed voyeur's 40th Anniversary, Ian Anderson returns to the USA with his band Jethro Tull, starting June 8 in Denver, CO and ending on the 27 in Chicago, IL.

The group features longtime members Ian Anderson (flute, vocals, acoustic guitar) and Martin Barre (guitars), Doane Perry (drums), as well as David Goodier (bass) and pianist John O'Hara.  The latter two joined in 2006 after working with Ian on some of his solo projects.

The group will be performing the Aqualung album in its entirety plus a range of their other favorites from the lat 42 years.  Critics dubbed AQUALUNG “a concept album,” particularly for Ian's critical, skeptical views of organized religion, mostly on side B ("My God," "Hymn 43"). Anderson has disputed - almost resented - the assessment seeing the record as "just a bunch of songs." This led the band to give the critics a full-blown concept album with the following studio release THICK AS A BRICK which topped the Billboard charts in 1972.

On AQUALUNG, the group explores the struggles of the less fortunate in our society (e.g., "Aqualung," "Cross-Eyed Mary," "Up to Me"). Teenage angst and formal education difficulties (e.g., "Wind Up") are explored, and Ian returns to his parental themes with "Cheap Day Return," a tune encompassing Anderson's feelings while traveling North on the train to visit his sick father. "Locomotive Breath" touches on the issues of globalization, population expansion and runaway economics. Sound familiar?

Formed in 1968, Jethro Tull released its first album THIS WAS late in that year and followed up in 1969 with STAND UP.  In the 1970s, the group was one of the most successful live performing acts on the world stage, rivaling Zeppelin, Elton John and even the Rolling Stones. Surprising, really, for a group whose more sophisticated and evolved stylistic extravagance was far from the Pop and Rock norm of that era.

With now some 30-odd albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, the apparently un-commercial Tull continues to perform over a 100 concerts per year with its rich variety and depth of expression, wherever fans, young and old, want to hear Rock, Folk, Jazz and Classical-inspired music. Music for boys in long trousers and girls with brains.

In 2011, Tull will tour in Australia, Ireland, and Germany.  And Ian will perform solo shows in Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, Czech Republic, the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Finland finishing with his customary charity Christmas concerts at three UK cathedrals.

In 2006, Ian was awarded a Doctorate in Literature from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement in Music and, in the New Years Honours List 2008, an MBE for services to music. In 2012, he expects to be awarded the Smithsonian Medal of Honor for smelling OK for someone his age and having ears still in proportion to the rest of his head. His bladder remains elastic and his prostate the size of a pinhead.

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Jethro Tull Tour Dates:

June 8: Red Rock Amphitheater, Morrison, CO
June 10: Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
June 11: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
June 12: TBA, Valley Center, CA
June 13: The Grove, Anaheim, CA
June 14: TBA, Saratoga, CA
June 16: Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
June 17: McMenamins Edgefield Concerts On The Lawn, Troutdale, OR
June 18: TBA, Woodinville, WA
June 19: Centre for the Performing Arts, Vancouver, BC
June 21: Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB
June 22: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, AB
June 23: Casino Regina, Regina, SK
June 25: Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
June 26: Chicago Theatre, Chicago, IL
June 27: Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, IL

As previously announced, the 2011 Ecstatic Music Festival, presented by New York City's Merkin Concert Hall in association with New Amsterdam Records, is a showcase of imaginative collaborations between more than 150 genre-pushing composers, songwriters and performers who represent a new generation of artists combining diverse influences and techniques to explore the intersection of classical and pop music. All concerts will include premieres. The festival opens with a free seven-hour marathon on January 17, 2011, and continues with 13 additional concerts until March 28, 2011. All concerts will take place at Merkin Concert Hall.

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January 2011 Ecstatic Music Festival Schedule:

Sun. 1/16/11, 7 pm @ Apple Store on Broadway at 67th Street, FREE

Panel discussion with Ecstatic Music Festival artists -- moderated by Nadia Sirota, featuring panelists Dan Deacon, Nico Muhly, Valgier Sigurdsson, Missy Mazzoli and Tristan Perich.

Mon. 1/17/11, 2-9 pm, FREE

Ecstatic Music Festival Marathon

Headliners Buke & Gass and Victoire are joined by So Percussion, Nadia Sirota, Timo Andres, Gabriel Kahane, Chiara String Quartet, John Matthias, NOW Ensemble, Lisa Moore and others.

Wed. 1/19/11, 7:30 pm  

Creator/Curator, vol. 3: The Chiara String Quartet and the Music of Nico Muhly & Valgeir Sigurdsson

The Chiara String Quartet presents the third in their Creator/Curator series, focusing on composer Nico Muhly. The luminous quartet will perform world premieres of Muhly's Diacritical Marks and Valgeir Sigurdsson’s Nebraska Quartet, plus other music by Muhly and Sigurdsson as well as music that has influenced Muhly. A long-time collaborator with Muhly, the acclaimed Icelandic composer/producer Sigurdsson is well known as a producer for Björk and Bonnie “Prince” Billy.

Thu. 1/20/11, 7:30 pm

So Percussion & Dan Deacon

In a series of new collaborative works, the electronic iconoclast Dan Deacon, whose visceral and sophisticated work has inspired a near-cult following, joins the entrancing So Percussion quartet for an evening of new works and arrangements of his older music. So Percussion will also perform selections from their own vast and varied output.

Sat. 1/22/11, 7:30 pm

Craig Wedren, Jefferson Friedman & ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble)

Former Shudder To Think lead singer Craig Wedren and rising contemporary classical star Jefferson Friedman premiere the complete version of their critically-acclaimed song cycle “On In Love” with ACME. ACME will also perform Meredith Monk’s Stringsongs and arrangements of film music by Wedren, who will additionally present solo versions of a selection of his own songs.

Sun. 1/30/11, 2 pm

Alarm Will Sound & Face the Music

The 20-member chamber giant Alarm Will Sound is joined by Kaufman Center’s teen new music ensemble Face the Music for a performance of Steve Reich's Tehillim. The program also features an array of electronic musicians whose work is transferred to the acoustic realm, as Alarm Will Sound presents the premiere of a new arrangement by Ben Frost, along with music of Aphex Twin, Preshish Moments and Matt Marks/Stefan Freund, while Face the Music plays music by Tristan Perich.