Every night offers something new: premieres, debuts, the return of a featured artist from a previous festival. Electronics, effects, and sampled sound sit side by side with in-the-moment virtuosity.

Vocals and electronics swirl and mix when Courtney Swain returns. Owls reinvents the string quartet (and shakes up the idea of a string quartet program). Seth Parker Woods tells a powerful story with cello and vocals. The Westerlies blend anything-goes joy and verve with precise and virtuosic brass ensemble playing.

Courtney Swain

Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30pm

A fearless multi-instrumentalist, composer, vocalist, songwriter, and sound artist, Swain conjures soundscapes that surround audiences with murmuring, echoing electronics, providing a canvas for her vocals, live instruments, and witty, insightful songwriting.  

Owls

Wednesday, February 12 at 7:30pm

Owls’ two-cello sound and eclectic programming—offering new works and their arrangements of music from the 1600s to the present—make them a must-hear group for adventurous music lovers. 

Seth Parker Woods cello and voice

Thursday, February 13 at 7:30pm

Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” two-time Grammy-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods is a versatile artist and innovator across multiple genres. 

The Westerlies

Friday, February 14 at 7:30pm

The Westerlies brass quartet navigates a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.

““Stave Sessions, presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston, is dedicated to sharing a diverse array of top-level musicians in a relaxed concert format.””

Anne Goldberg-Baldwin I care if you listen

Crystal Ballroom Somerville Th - Crystal Ballroom

Past Season Stave Sessions Artists

2023

Sō Percussion & Shodekeh
Wild Up
Yasmin Williams
Craig Taborn & Tomeka Reid

2022
No festival

2021 (Digital)

Cristina Pato

Kinan Azmeh

Mark Lettieri Group

Meklit

Sid Sriram

Spektral Quartet

Sybarite5 with special guest Ehsan Matoori

 

2020
Canceled

2019
Anna & Elizabeth
Edmar Castañeda
LADAMA
Oracle Hysterical and musicians from A Far Cry
Tigue and Arooj Aftab

2018
Jazzmeia Horn
House of Waters
Ensemble Mik Nawooj
Claire Chase and My Brightest Diamond
Bent Knee with Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Percussion Ensemble

2017
yMusic
Melissa Aldana
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society
TIGUE and Innov Gnawa

2016
3 Sudacas / Mixcla
Sybarite5
Kneebody + Daedelus = Kneedelus
My Brightest Diamond
Sam Amidon and Glenn Kotche
Sō Percussion with Buke and Gase

2015
Banda Magda (Opening: Chorobop)
Gabriel Kahane (Opening: Kate Davis)
Roomful of Teeth
Ben Sollee and Becca Stevens Band
Brooklyn Rider
Third Coast Percussion