Savannah Music Festival (SMF) announces the lineup for its 2011 season, an expansive city-wide, multi-venue program showcasing a wide array of internationally-acclaimed artists in more than 100 productions over the course of more than two weeks, March 24 -April 9. Held annually in historic downtown Savannah, this 22nd season of Georgia’s largest festival – described by The Times of London as "one of the best events around the world"- features numerous festival debuts and the return of several audience favorites from the realms of jazz, blues, Americana, international traditions, and classical.
"At our festival, indigenous southern genres like the blues, country and bluegrass provide a fascinating counterpoint for many other musical traditions from around the world – from jazz to West African music," remarks SMF Executive & Artistic Director Rob Gibson. "This unique confluence of musical styles finds a home against the backdrop of Savannah, a place where the past hangs prevalently in the air."
The intermingling of musical genres is most evident in musical pairings and collaborations that are unique to the Savannah Music Festival. Jazz meets Brazil via Dianne Reeves and Chico Pinheiro; banjo and jazz piano combine in a premiere collaboration between Béla Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio; "African Interplay" features kora master Ballake Sissoko with cellist Vincent Segal alongside the Lionel Loueke Ensemble’s premiere of new music by producer/composer Robert Sadin; The Flatlanders share the stage with Junior Brown in "Giants of Texas Country"; and banjo also visits South India in Fleck’s performance with tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain and double-bassist Edgar Meyer. These artists take audiences on a seamless journey throughout the world’s diverse music traditions – not only across the festival’s schedule as a whole, but sometimes within one singular performance.
In addition to a wealth of eclectic and groundbreaking concert programming – which also includes a variety of classical debuts, chamber series and recitals – SMF gives attendees a chance to hit the dance floor throughout the festival with four themed dance parties: Cuban, Cajun, Funk, and Zydeco. For more, visit savannahmusicfestival.org.
