The American Patchwork Quartet will weave a variety of musical influences together in kicking off SUNY Oswego’s ARTSwego season with a performance at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, in Tyler Hall's Waterman Theatre.
Led by multi-Grammy award-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, the quartet binds timeless American folk songs with jazz sophistication, country twang, West African hypnotics, and East Asian ornamentation. Ross is joined by Falguni (Falu) Shah, an 11th-generation Hindustani classical vocalist and the first South Asian woman to win a Grammy award; Yasushi Nakamura, an internationally acclaimed Issei jazz bassist; and Rudy Royston, a drummer and percussionist who has performed with many of today's finest jazz musicians.
APQ aims for a sound that is a masterful confluence of tradition and innovation, transcending culture, politics, and ideology. After the Sept. 26 performance, the band will host a talkback for interested attendees.
As part of the performance, ARTSwego is working with APQ to coordinate a hashtag campaign, #AmericanPatchworkProject, and wants the campus to be a part of it. ARTSwego asks the community to post self-portraits or short videos and share their family origins or migrant stories on social media using the hashtag. These stories will be showcased before APQ’s performance, celebrating the unique collage of experiences that make up the SUNY Oswego community. Read this story for more information on the project and how to submit.
In addition, APQ’s residency will include a jazz workshop from 5:15 to 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in Room 11 of Tyler Hall. This workshop is free and open to the public.
Tickets to the evening concert are free for SUNY Oswego students, $15 for faculty/staff/alumni, $20 for the general public and $5 for non-SUNY Oswego students, via any campus box office or tickets.oswego.edu.
This performance is part of Inauguration Week for President Peter O. Nwosu, culminating in his inauguration from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sept. 27. For more information on this week’s activities, visit oswego.edu/inauguration.
For more information on this performance and other performing arts events, visit oswego.edu/ARTSwego.