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Steph Davis – Channels, A new music series
April 13 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
$30
The Channels series presents new music in unique spaces to bring artists and audiences together in the spirit of connectivity and discovery. This event is recommended for ages 12 and up.
In this season finale concert, Steph Davis presents like flower petals…, a program that aims to bring new perspective to the marimba. like flower petals… combines West African gyil music, African American spirituals, and Black classical music traditions. Drawing from the marimba’s rich and ancient history rooted on the African continent, Davis shares an Africanist/African-American lens through which to experience the marimba.
About the Artist
Steph Davis is a marimbist, arranger, composer, Africana studies scholar, and cultural activist. Their work engages people, traditions, and technologies of the African diaspora as means for uncovering truthful historiographies, finding creative self-actualization, and reaching for collective liberation.
Hailed by the Washington Post as a “captivating” performer who brings “bright humanity and expressive depth” to contemporary music, Steph is anactive marimba soloist and chamber musician, performing in venues across the United States — including Merkin Hall (NYC) and The Broward Center for the Performing Arts (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), among others. Their repertoire spans a wide variety of musical styles, including traditional Ghanaian gyil music, African American spirituals, and Western classical, romantic, 20th-century, and contemporary music primarily by Black composers. A versatile and passionate collaborator, they have performed chamber music with noted artists, including Grammy-nominated flutist Nathalie Joachim,
PaviElle French, Mazz Swift, Michi Wiancko, and Yasmin Williams, among others. Through their arrangements, commissions, and compositions, Steph has contributed over 20 works by Black composers to the marimba’s solo and chamber repertoire. They have premiered works by Avik Chari, Christa Duggan, Damien Geter, Alissa Voth, Pamela Z, and Bilin Zheng. Steph is a Marimba One Artist.
As a composer, Steph draws inspiration from Black expressive characteristics, free forms, and natural landscapes. Their music has been performed internationally in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, and Europe. They have been commissioned by New Works Project, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Modern Marimba, Spectrum Ensemble, Prism Percussion, Britton-René Collins, Michael Ptacin, and Cameron Denby.
About Channels
A new music series that defies boundaries and celebrates the river as a means of travel, exploration, and source of new ideas – Channels presents adventurous music in unique Hudson River Town settings. The mission of the series is to bring together artists and audiences in the spirit of connectivity and discovery, by taking advantage of one of the area’s greatest resources—its location.
