CORVALLIS, Ore. – The two-time Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet and jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut will perform the program “Carry Me Home” at 7:30 p.m. March 9 in the Austin Auditorium at the LaSells Stewart Center on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis.
The event is part of the College of Liberal Arts, School of Arts & Communication’s SAC Presents performing arts series.
The instrumentation for “Carry Me Home” is standard classical piano quintet, but the performers serve up the works of Duke Ellington, Wayne Shorter, Bill Withers, John Coltrane and more, infused with gospel and sacred music influences spanning from the Appalachian Mountains to the spiritual landscape of J.S. Bach.
Turtle Island Quartet is known for creating bold, new trends in chamber music. The group is comprised of David Balakrishnan, violin; Gabriel Terracciano, violin; Benjamin Von Gutzeit, viola; and Malcolm Parson, cello.
The group, founded in 1985, regularly forays into folk, bluegrass, swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, new age, rock and hip-hop, as well as the music of Latin America and India. The quartet has made over a dozen recordings and has recorded soundtracks for major motion pictures, and TV and radio; including NBC’s Today Show, NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition, and public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion.
Chestnut is a performing artist, composer and educator with more than a dozen studio albums to his name. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music, he honed his craft as a sideman with musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, James Moody, Isaac Hayes and Dizzy Gillespie. His work has been featured in films such as Robert Altman’s “Kansas City,” in which he portrayed a Count Basie-inspired pianist, and “Piano Grand: A Smithsonian Celebration.” Since 2014 he has been professor of jazz piano and improvisation at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Tickets are $30 and $35 in advance, $35 and $40 at the door. All seats are reserved. To purchase tickets, visit https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/SACpresents or call 541-737-5592. The LaSells Stewart Center is located at 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis.
Up to 100 free tickets are available for OSU students for each event. An OSU student discount code is needed and may be obtained in Fairbanks Hall 309A or 309B, or by calling 541-737-5592.
The box office opens at 6:30 p.m. Auditorium doors open at 7 p.m. Beverages and snacks will be for sale in the lobby by Lumos Wine Company starting at 6 p.m. Child care may be arranged through OSU KidSpirit’s Adult Night Out Program (fee and registration required – see website for details.)
SAC Presents participates in Corvallis Arts for All. If tickets remain on the evening of the performance, individuals in the SNAP program with an Oregon Trail Card may purchase up to two tickets at $5 each starting one hour prior to each performance. For availability of Corvallis Arts for All tickets or for accommodations for people with disabilities, call 541-737-5592.
The final concert of this season’s SAC Presents Series will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, featuring Jenny Scheinman & H. Lee Waters’ “Kannapolis - A Moving Portrait.” It’s part of the Co. Maker Faire weekend on campus.
SAC Presents is funded in part by donations made during the Cornerstone Campaign for the Arts and by OSU Friends of the Arts.
College of Liberal Arts
About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts encompasses seven distinct schools, as well as several interdisciplinary initiatives, that focus on humanities, social sciences, and fine and performing arts. Curriculum developed by the college’s nationally and internationally-renowned faculty prepares students to approach the complex problems of the world ethically and thoughtfully, contributing to a student's academic foundation and helping to build real-world skills for a 21st century career and a purposeful life.
Erin Sneller, 541-737-5592, [email protected]