Over the last four decades, Béla Fleck has boldly taken the banjo across the musical map.
Now the 19-time Grammy Award winner returns to his bluegrass roots with “My Bluegrass Heart,” coming to the Center for the Arts Saturday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m.
A Grammy-winning album and touring project, “My Bluegrass Heart” is the third chapter in a trilogy that began with Fleck’s 1988 album, “Drive,” and continued with “The Bluegrass Sessions” in 1999.
The project brings together generations of leading bluegrass players for music that is rooted in tradition while showcasing Fleck’s unmistakably adventurous approach to the banjo.
Among the musicians joining Fleck in Blacksburg is fiddler Michael Cleveland, one of bluegrass music’s most decorated instrumentalists. A Grammy winner and multiple-time International Bluegrass Music Association Fiddle Player of the Year, Cleveland has been recognized for his distinctive sound and technical command of the instrument.
The performance also features mandolinist Dominick Leslie, whose career has included work with Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway, Hawktail, and other leading bluegrass musicians; dobro player Jeff Partin; bassist and multi-instrumentalist Mark Schatz; and guitarist Jake Stargel.
Throughout his career, Fleck has continually expanded ideas about what the banjo can do and where it belongs. His work has crossed country, pop, jazz, classical, world music, and more.
For more than 30 years, Fleck has led Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, the groundbreaking quartet drawing from jazz, funk, bluegrass, and other musical traditions. His wide-ranging career has also included writing three concertos for banjo and symphony orchestra and exploring the banjo’s African roots in the award-winning 2009 documentary “Throw Down Your Heart.”
His many collaborations have included projects with Zakir Hussain, Rakesh Chaurasia, and Edgar Meyer; the Latin jazz-influenced BEATrio with harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez; a folk duo with his wife, Abigail Washburn; and a jazz duo with legendary pianist Chick Corea.
Most recently, Fleck produced and performed with opera star Renée Fleming on “The Fiddle and the Drum,” a celebration of Appalachian folk music.
This performance is supported in part by gifts from Ms. Elizabeth Hahn and Mr. Douglas Chancey, Clem and Georgia Carter, and Ed Spencer.
Related events
Before he takes the stage, experience the inspiring journey of world-class fiddler Michael Cleveland with a free screening of “Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story,” an intimate documentary exploring his rise from a child prodigy to an award-winning musician, at the Lyric Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m.
Prior to the performance, join Béla Fleck, Michael Cleveland, and Dominick Leslie for “Bluegrass Roots,” a conversation about the evolution of bluegrass and its enduring roots in Appalachian music, on Saturday, Sept. 19, from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Creativity and Innovation District (CID) Rehearsal and Performance Room. Presented in partnership with the Creativity and Innovation District and Lifelong Learning Institute at Virginia Tech, the event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Tickets
Tickets are $30 to $75 for general audience and $10 for students and youth 18 and under. Tickets can be purchased online; at the Center for the Arts box office at 190 Alumni Mall, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.
Venue and parking information
The performance will be held in the center’s Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located within the Street and Davis Performance Hall at 190 Alumni Mall. Convenient parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street and in downtown Blacksburg. Find more parking details online.
Virginia Tech
