Artist Series Concerts Presents a String “Dream Team,” Concert Grand Harps, and a Beatboxer

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota (ASC) presents three concerts in three series in November: Top Shelf Tuesdays concert Ehnes Quartet with special guest Jonathan Vinocour, November 3; Lighter Fare concert Biribá Union, November 17; and Sunday Best concert 94 Strings, November 22. Caroline Campbell's November 12 Lunch and Listen concert is sold out. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call (941) 306-1202.

Superstar violinist James Ehnes' performances are always a must-see for Sarasota music lovers. This season he returns to Artist Series Concerts with the Ehnes Quartet, a string "dream team" joined by Jonathan Vinocour, principal viola of the San Francisco Symphony since 2009. Established in 2010 with the Seattle Chamber Music Society, where it maintains an annual residency, the Ehnes Quartet brings together prize-winning artists Ehnes and Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin), Che-Yen Chen (viola), and Edward Arron (cello) – each with outstanding solo careers and prestigious academic positions whose chamber collaboration has received international performance and acclaim. This Top Shelf Tuesdays series opener, November 3 at 7:30 p.m., includes Brahms' String Quintets, Op. 88 and Op. 111. Tickets are $50 for general seating and $70 for VIP seating; all tickets include post-concert reception with the artists.

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Caroline Campbell – Without a Net, the November 12 Lunch and Listen concert at Sarasota Yacht Club, is sold out.

ASC also welcomes back the extraordinary cellist Mike Block, performing this time as part of the uniquely joyful trio Biribá Union. This concert kicks off the Lighter Fare series November 17, 5:30 pm at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. The musicians of Biribá Union – Block, cello and vocals; Christylez Bacon, beatbox, guitar, rhymes; Patricia Ligia, electric bass and vocals – met through Silkroad's Global Musician Workshop, initially bonding over their shared love of Brazilian music. Their original compositions draw on the freestyle theatrics of hip-hop and Go-go music, the effortless beauty of Brazilian forró and choro, the earthiness of American roots music, and the improvisational spontaneity of jazz. Tickets are $50 for general seating. A cash bar by Michael's On East will be available.

What's better than the 47 strings of a gorgeous concert grand harp? The 94 strings of two of them! 94 Strings, November 22 at 4:00 pm, brings together Cheryl Losey Feder, former principal harpist of Sarasota Orchestra and now principal harpist of the Minnesota Orchestra, and Phoebe Powell, Sarasota Orchestra's current principal harpist, for a heavenly program of music for the grandest of instruments. Their Sunday Best series program at First Presbyterian Church includes Caplet's Conte Fantastique for harp and string quartet (Michael Turkell and Leah Latorraca, violins; Nathan Frantz, viola; David Bender, cello); Edgar Allen Poe's Masque of the Red Death narrated by Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe's Nate Jacobs; Debussy's Dances for Harp and Strings; and more. Tickets are $50 for general seating and $70 for VIP seating; all tickets include post-concert reception with the artists.

For more information about Artist Series Concerts and to purchase tickets, visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or call 941-306-1202.