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.
Doors open at 6:45pm each evening of Stave Sessions for the 7:30pm performances.
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
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
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