Invocation 2:00 PM Cypress Grove Twentieth-century Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu dreamed of swimming in an “ocean that has no east, no west.” His dream of an international culture has inspired director-musician Susan Waterfall to bring together traditional and modern Japanese music in celebration of Takemitsu’s legacy and Japan’s July national holiday, Ocean Day. Karl Young, ...
Sunday, July 21, 4:00 PM Tent Concert Hall This exciting contemporary taiko ensemble—celebrating their tenth anniversary by visiting the U.S. for the first time with the help of the Mendocino Sister Cities Association—performs kumi-daiko (multi-drum, multi-players) complemented with the addition of marimbas and western drums. GONNA'S blend of Wadaiko (traditional Japanese drumming and drums) and ...
Bento (弁当 bentō) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine, usually in a box-shaped container. Proceeds benefit Otsuchi, Japan (sister city of Fort Bragg), devastated by tsunami.
The Life and Legacy of Toru Takemitsu A Susan Waterfall Production Susan Waterfall’s multi-media production brings to life the artistic world of Japan’s great composer Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996), a seminal figure in modern composition. Takemitsu’s art suggests a fresh language that fuses Eastern and Western creative sensibilities. Days before his death, Takemitsu described a remarkable ...
Dror Sinai Eliyahu Sills Bouchaib Abdelhadi Wednesday July 24 3:00 PM Caspar Community Center Note: The particulars of some events were finalized after the printed program went to press. Consequently the printed program lists an incorrect date and time for this event. "Rhythm is all around us, in everything we see, we touch, we breathe. ...
Thursday July 25 8:00 PM Tent Concert Hall Cherish the Ladies has become the most successful and sought after Irish-American group in Celtic music. When describing them, the critics say it best. The Boston Globe: "It is simply impossible to imagine an audience that wouldn't enjoy what they do. The Washington Post: "An astonishing array ...
Friday July 26 8:00 PM Tent Concert Hall The Pedrito Martinez Group is a small band with a huge sound. It has its roots planted firmly in the Afro-Cuban Rumba tradition and in the bata rhythm and vocal chants of the music of Yoruba and Santeria. With the band’s superb musicianship and incredible instrumental, percussion, ...
Featured wines at this performanceSix incredible artists, all virtuosi of their art forms, draw global inspiration from contemporary art and dance. Three-time Isadora Duncan nominees for Most Outstanding Music, Ensemble, and Individual Performance, they constitute a multicultural medley of Gypsy, French, and Spanish origins. Award-winning dancers Michael Gutierrez and Fanny Ara are also featured in ...
Wines featured at this performance April Verch specializes in the hybrid heritage of her native Ottawa Valley, creating North American roots music with fantastic fiddling, great songwriting, a terrific band, and amazing step-dancing—who could ask for more? They have been a major hit with Shetland audiences for years and will set your toes to tapping. ...
Featured wines at this performancePoncho Sanchez’s music is a swirl of some of the hottest colors and brightest lights to emerge from either side of the border. At every show Latin jazz, swing, bebop, salsa and other infectious grooves collide and churn with results that are no less than dazzling. Among the more prominent figures ...
Featured wines at this performanceDe Temps Antan performs memorable and time-honored melodies of Quebec, songs with a hint of contemporary that speak to familiar rhythms of the past. With a special blend of musical flair and using fiddle, accordion, harmonica, guitar, bouzouki and a number of other instruments, these virtuosos - Éric Bèaudry, André Brunet ...
A Canadian roots music band, Vishten entertains with a high-spirited concert of Acadian and Celtic genres combined with rock and indie-folk influence. One of the most respected bands on the international touring scene, enjoy Vishten's trademark blend of accordion, fiddle, flutes, step-dancing, guitar, to name just a few. These musicians are powerful francophone singers and ...
The primary instruments for WAHID (meaning one) are oud and frame drums, each of which has an ancient history, as found on clay tablets and papyrus scrolls. A duo combination of oud and frames has never been explored or codified, even though the two instruments have complimented each other in classical ensembles for hundreds of ...
Featured wines at this performanceBassekou Kouyate, musician from Mali, is one of the true masters of the ngoni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa, which he started playing at the age of 12. His band is known as Ngoni ba and he has collaborated with many musicians around the world. He was part ...
A self-proclaimed "Voice for the Voiceless" and leader of the premier band in Malawi, Mawanga joins traditional Malawian rhythms, compositions and vocal arrangements with modern instrumentation to produce socially conscious, inspirational music. With his poignant songs and strong messages, the artist strives to speak for the underprivileged and expose the world to the riches of ...
Combining their love for folk and traditional music, the Paul McKenna Band offers captivating sounds. With a contemporary approach, but not straying too far from their roots, their arrangements have been called both fresh and innovative. Their exciting sound is created through outstanding vocals, driving guitar and bouzouki, intense fiddle playing, a warm pairing of ...
Marko Djordjevic (left) with Julian Pollack (right) An exciting and many faceted evening inspired by traditional Serbian folk music. Enjoy Julian with drummer Marko Djordjevic’s band, Sveti, and their amazing compositions based on Serbian folk rhythms. The international women's vocal group ROSA, specializing in Serbian non-tempered singing, will round out a complex and riveting musical ...
Featured wines at this performance Event Sponsor Four-time Grammy-nominated, the world-renowned Pine Leaf Boys have made a name presenting their own inimitable brand of music with youthful exuberance, reviving ancient songs and bringing them to the bandstand. Hailing from southwest Louisiana, they are known for their wild shows, thoughtful arrangements, and breathing new life into ...
Featured wines at this performance Born in the rural countryside near Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Joan Soriano fashioned his first guitar from a tin can and fishing line and has never looked back. Soriano plays steel string bachata with equal parts romance and grit. The Afro-infused rhythm that permeates his music has made ...
Be inspired by Joan Soriano’s work with local middle and high school students who have been participating in the Lead Guitar program. FREE TICKETS
Event Sponsor Guitarist Dimitris Mahlis, drummer Ralph Humphrey, bassist Jerry Watts and saxophonist Antti Suzuki bring life to the multi ethnic compositions of Mahlis. Mahlis’s playing style has been described as soulful and unique, and his compositions have set a standard in cross-cultural pollination. Suzuki's improvisational talents have been showcased over a varied musical landscape. ...
Acknowledged as one of the premier taiko ensembles in the world, San Jose Taiko has mesmerized audiences and critics alike with the powerful, spellbinding and propulsive sounds of taiko, the Japanese drum. Founded in 1973 by young Asian Americans searching to convey their experiences as third generation Japanese Americans, and inspired by traditional Japanese drumming, ...
Bringing together three styles of exhilarating dance forms—Ottawa Valley stepdance, Irish stepdance, and Tap—these dancers and musicians take you on an amazing dance journey. As if dancing weren’t enough, The StepCrew boasts world-class fiddlers backed by an ensemble of some of the most talented musicians in the Celtic music scene today. The StepCrew is a ...
Since forming in 1975, Grammy winners BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet have been making some of the most potent and popular Cajun music on the planet. Born out of the rich Acadian ancestry of its members, and created and driven by bandleader Doucet’s spellbinding fiddle playing and soulful vocals, BeauSoleil’s distinctive sound derives from the distilled ...
The award=winning and highly acclaimed band Le Vent du Nord is a leading force in Quebec’s progressive francophone folk movement. The group’s vast repertoire draws from both traditional sources and original compositions, while enhancing its hard-driving soulful music (rooted in the Celtic diaspora) with a broad range of global influences. Le Vent du Nord must melt ...
Brazil’s Badi Assad is lauded as one of the world’s most unique performance artists of this generation. She transcends traditional styles of her native Brazilian music with a mixture of pop, jazz and world/ethnic sounds from around the world. Combining an extraordinary guitar talent, unique mouth percussion and beautiful singing, Assad creates an exciting, fresh sound. Fellow Brazilian Diego Figueiredo, a virtuoso with an infectious, joyful feeling, is a fast-rising star among the world’s greatest jazz guitarists. His superb technique and imagination have made him one of the hottest international names as he unites a fusion of Brazilian music with jazz. Twice a winner at the Montreux Jazz Competition, Figueiredo is also a producer, arranger, orchestrator and multi-instrumentalist.
If you’re out and about Mendocino on Friday afternoon July 19 during the Festival you may happen upon a little Bach, some bossa nova, or even a classic pop song being conjured up on one or more guitars. The Mendocino Guitar Workshop, in co-operation with the Mendocino Music Festival, will unleash another eclectic crew of ...
Opening Night, on July 11: With some scenic aerial footage of the tent site and fun discussions with Festival Orchestra musicians and the makers and shakers of the July season, get yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and feel again the heartening spirit of music in Mendocino. 7:30 PM, at your house. FREE TICKET ...
A smash hit at past Festivals, four-time Grammy-nominated Pine Leaf Boys began as a group of friends getting kicked off the college campus for busking in Lafayette and have made a name for presenting their own inimitable brand of music. Hailing from southwest Louisiana, they are known for their wild shows, thoughtful arrangements and for ...
Grammy-nominated guitarist Diego Figueiredo is a virtuoso with an infectious, joyful feeling that will leave you amazed. A brilliant musician who keeps the tradition of the true essence of Brazilian music, and at the same time can be extremely modern and innovative, he is an extraordinary star among the world's greatest jazz guitarists. Figueiredo’s superb ...
Once a Leonard Cohen back-up singer, singer-songwriter Batalla launched her solo career with Cohen’s encouragement. The Grammy-nominated Batalla has recorded seven albums, written for both film and television, and toured worldwide. In this concert, expect "a mixed program of originals, Leo Cohen, Mexican ballads, maybe some Pete Seeger." Batalla’s gorgeous, rich, contralto voice adds another ...
The vernacular Venezuelan term, bululú, means “a gathering of people with excitement.” The San Francisco Bay Area band launched by Venezuelan-born percussionist Lali Mejia and Mexican string expert and vocalist Jose Roberto Hernandez manifests kindred cultural streams flowing together harmoniously. The nine-piece combo of veteran performers draws on folkloric styles from Venezuelan, Colombian, Chilean, Cuban ...
The vernacular Venezuelan term, bululú, means “a gathering of people with excitement.” The San Francisco Bay Area band launched by Venezuelan-born percussionist Lali Mejia and Mexican string expert and vocalist Jose Roberto Hernandez manifests kindred cultural streams flowing together harmoniously. The nine-piece combo of veteran performers draws on folkloric styles from Venezuelan, Colombian, Chilean, Cuban ...
Created by Cara Butler and Jon and Nathan Pilatzke (longtime touring members of The Chieftains), The StepCrew combines Irish, Tap and Ottawa Valley Step dancing, music, and song. The virtuosic cast of 11 dancers and musician, made up of leading performers in today’s Celtic music scene, has appeared on the stages of Celtic festivals all ...
A Chicano band from East Los Angeles, Las Cafeteras are known for their infectious live performances and music that fuses word and folk music with traditional Son Jarocho, Afro-Mexican music, and zapateado dancing. Remixing roots music and telling modern stories, Las Cafeteras create a vibrant musical fusion with a unique East LA sound. Crossing genres ...
Classical composers have always been inspired by animals. Think of orchestral works like Carnival of the Animals by St. Saens or Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. In the field of vocal music, the great lieder composers found inspiration in bird flight, the galloping of horses, or the tranquility of the gazelle. The Italian madrigal, ...
This new project finds Alicia and Michael Olatuja reuniting in music. OLATUJA blends Afro-Beat, Jazz, Funk, and Soul. Praised by the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage,” Alicia Olatuja has been captivating audiences with her exquisite vocals and artistic versatility. She first ...
A musical ensemble based in Charleston, South Carolina, Ranky Tanky specializes in jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music, a culture that originated among descendants of enslaved Africans along the coast of South Carolina and nearby islands. Apart from lead vocalist Quiana Parler, four of the group's members—Quentin Baxter, Kevin Hamilton, Clay Ross, and Charlton Singleton—previously ...