FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: LuAnn Bielawa, Director of Operations
luann.bielawa@maverickconcerts.org
845-594-6518

Nilson Matta Brazilian Voyage
Saturday, August 19, 8:00 – 10:00 PM
Reserved Hall Seats: $60.00, $30.00, $27.50 (partial obstruction)
General Admission/Outdoors/Uncovered: $25.00, Students: $10
nilsonmatta.com

Catalyst Quartet with Gabriel Cabeza, Cello
Sunday, August 20, 4:00 – 6:00 PM
(Reserved Hall Seats: $50.00, $29.00, $25.00 (partial obstruction)
General Admission/Outdoors/Uncovered: $20.00, Students: $10.00
daliquartet.com

Maverick Family Saturdays:
Jason Vance Storyteller and One-Man Band
Saturday, August 19, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Free

Maverick Concerts
120 Maverick Road
Woodstock, NY 12498
https://maverickconcerts.org

The bassist Nilson Matta has emerged as a pivotal figure in the ongoing conversation between Brazilian music and American jazz, at first as an in demand sideman with luminaries from both continents and eventually as a composer and leader in his own right, an accomplishment authenticated by a Grammy nomination for his 2015 session as leader, East Side Rio Drive. On August 19, Nilson Matta brings Brazilian Voyage to Maverick Concerts, a celebration of one of the richest musical traditions on the globe in all its harmonic sophistication, rhythmic subtlety, and improvised interplay.

Soon after coming to New York in the mid ‘80s, Mr. Matta found work with a stunning variety of jazz greats including Joe Henderson, Kenny Barron, Paul Winter, Paquito D’Rivera, Lee Konitz, Herbie Mann, Randy Brecker, and more. He has also worked extensively with such Brazilian stars as João Bosco, Oscar Castro Neves, Hermeto Pascoal, Chico Buarque, MPB4, João Gilberto, and Luis Bonfa to name only a few. Mr. Matta’s international fame, however, rests mostly upon his work with the Grammy-nominated Trio da Paz and especially his role as a core member of cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s Brazilian Project, a collaboration that resulted in two Grammy-winning releases and two years of international touring.

One of Mr. Matta’s current projects is a collaboration with the storied Brazilian pianist Aldredo Cardim. While now firmly established as a composer and high-level collaborator, Nilson remains a committed advocate and mentor in the world of upright bassists. He is a member of the International Society of Bassists, making frequent appearances as a featured guest and performer at the ISB Convention. He taught at NYC’s famed Bass Collective for many years and has conducted master classes worldwide.  Throughout his career, Matta has shared his mastery of Brazilian music not only with audiences but with aspiring musicians and hobbyists.

Hailed by The New York Times at its Carnegie Hall debut as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” the Grammy Award-winning Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The Catalyst has toured widely throughout the United States and abroad, including sold-out performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., at Chicago’s Harris Theater, Miami’s New World Center, and Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall in New York. The quartet has been guest soloists with the Cincinnati Symphony, New Haven Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, and has served as principal players and featured ensemble with the Sphinx Virtuosi on six national tours.

Like so many of the acclaimed and virtuosic ensembles that will visit Maverick Hall this season, the Catalyst Quartet uses its platform to redefine the chamber music canon and to transform the conversation surrounding classical music. The Catalyst’s entire program is informed by a profound commitment to new music and new composers, to diversity in the repertoire and constituencies of classical music, and to education and exchange.

The Quartet’s three most recent releases—the Uncovered series—have been devoted entirely to the chamber works of major (and, until recently, vastly under-represented) African-American composers: Samual Coleridge-Taylor, his namesake Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, George Walker, Florence Price, and William Grant-Still. A fourth volume is currently underway.

In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, the Catalyst commissioned micro-works from nine diverse composers and held a national competition focused on promoting new and emerging talent. From Jesse Montgomery to Joan Tower, Caroline Shaw to Kevin Puts, this ambitious and clever undertaking attracted some of the brightest talents in new music. The results were collected in the CQminute—a video album and a full-length concert program.

In February of 2019, the quartet visited Cuba in partnership with Cuba American Youth Orchestra and the Sphinx Organization. On that historic trip, the quartet first encountered Jorge Amado Molina, the brilliant young Cuban composer and violinist. In short order, the Catalyst commissioned a cello quintet from Jorge Amado. Joined by the rising cello star Gabriel Cabezas, the Catalyst will performer this piece at its Maverick concert.

Recently named one of “23 Composers and Performers to Watch in ’23” by the Washington Post, cellist Gabriel Cabezas is a prolific and sought-after soloist and collaborator, as comfortable interpreting new works as he is with the pillar scores of the cello repertoire. Gabriel has appeared with America’s finest symphony orchestras, including those of Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland and New York, and has premiered dozens of new works by some of the most brilliant composers of his time.

He recently released Lost Coast, a dynamic album of original music composed by Gabriella Smith inspired by her reflections on climate change, which she has seen devastate her home state of California. The album was named one of NPR Music’s “Favorite Albums Of 2021” and a “Classical Album to Hear Right Now” by The New York Times.

J.S. Bach: Cello Suite No.3 in C Major
Jorge Amado: “Relatos Magicos” (2022), for string quintet (New York premiere)
Schubert: Cello Quintet in C, D.956

Karla Donehew-Perez, violin
Abi Fayette, violin
Paul Laraia, viola
Karlos Rodriguez, Cello

Gabriel Cabezas, cello

For the last Maverick Family Saturdays, a free, short, and family-friendly program, Maverick welcomes Jason Vance, storyteller, and one-man band, on Saturday, August 19 from 11:00 AM to noon. At the root of all Jason’s shows and classes is an invitation to play. Whether he is performing stories and songs as a one-man band, appearing with interactive theater companies Trusty Sidekick or Live-In Theater at Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, or the New York Historical Society, or visiting classrooms as a teaching artist with New Victory Theater or Brooklyn Music Factory, getting the participants to play is always Jason’s the top priority.

 

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Maverick Concerts, the oldest continuous summer chamber music festival in America, is set amid the serene Catskill woodland just outside Woodstock, NY. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the uniquely charming rustic hall has superb acoustics and is the ideal venue for an intimate encounter with chamber music. Maverick presents concerts by internationally renowned classical, jazz, and contemporary music ensembles from July through early September. Maverick Concerts sustains the vision of its founder, Hervey White, who built the historic concert hall in 1916 and opened his land and hospitality to artists, musicians, and the community. Concerts are on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons. Maverick Family Saturdays, short interactive events designed for kids of all ages, are free and open to everyone on Saturday mornings.