KNOXVILLE — The world’s premier banjo player, Béla Fleck, returns to Knoxville this week in a new trio as part of the 2009-2010 Cultural Attractions Series hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Fleck joins with tabla player Zakir Hussain and double-bass master Edgar Meyer.
The Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer Trio will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Tennessee Theatre, located at 604 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. Tickets are $5 for UT students, $20 for faculty and staff and $25 for the public. Tickets will be available at the door, but may still be reserved through http://knoxvilletickets.com, by phone at (865) 656-4444 or in person at the University Center Central Ticket Office.
Fleck, Hussain and Meyer may be familiar faces to Knoxville audiences. Fleck opened the city’s Sundown in the City concert series in 2004, while Hussain and Meyer each played to sell-out local crowds in 2008 and 2007, respectively.
Fleck is widely credited with the reinvention of the image and sound of the banjo through his performing and recording career, which has taken him all over the musical map. He has won eight Grammy Awards and has been nominated in more categories than anyone in Grammy history.
Hussain is well-known for his exciting performances, which have established him as a national treasure in his home country of India, while earning him worldwide fame. He is considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement.
Meyer has established himself both as a performer and a composer. His uniqueness in his field was recognized with a MacArthur Award in 2002. The MacArthur Fellows Program awards five-year fellowships to individuals exhibiting exceptional merit and promise of continued creative work.
Each year UT Knoxville’s Cultural Attractions Series brings top-notch performing arts to the campus and community. Highlighting diverse music and dance programs, past performers include the Moscow Festival Ballet, Irish troupe Gaelic Storm and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Other 2009-2010 events include Street Beat: Percussion & Dance; the Idan Raichel Project; and TAO: The Martial Art of Drumming. For more information on the 2009-2010 Cultural Attractions Series, visit http://cpc.utk.edu/Committees/cac.
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C O N T A C T :
Rebekah Winkler, (865-974-8304, rwinkler@utk.edu)