Tickets on sale for ‘legendary’ acts including ‘the best banjo player in the world’
EBS STAFF
The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center will host a pair of “powerhouse performances” in August, welcoming musicians Ben Folds, and Béla Fleck and The Flecktones to the Big Sky stage.
The first show, “Ben Folds and a Piano” with special guest Lindsey Kraft, is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 13. The second show, Béla Fleck and The Flecktones, will be on Sunday, Aug. 31. Ticket sales opened June 1 on the WMPAC website.
“These are two legendary artists, and the fact that we’ll have them on our stage in Big Sky, in such an intimate setting, is extraordinary,” John Zirkle, WMPAC executive director, stated in a WMPAC press release. “The quality of their artistry couldn’t be higher, and our venue is designed for an up-close, profound experience with that level of talent.”
Folds is an Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter with an “enormous” body of genre-bending music, including pop albums with Ben Folds Five, solo albums, a holiday album and numerous collaborative records, according to the release. Folds currently tours as a pop artist and performs with world-class symphony orchestras.
Folds also authored a New York Times bestselling memoir, and composes original music for film, TV and theater productions. His philanthropic work includes launching a music education charitable initiative in his home state of North Carolina, “Keys for Kids,” to provide keyboards and funds to existing nonprofits that provide piano lessons to disadvantaged children, and he supports Americans for the Arts and the Arts Action Fund to advocate for public policies that improve arts and arts education on a national level.
Béla Fleck and The Flecktones draw from classical, jazz, bluegrass, African music, electric blues and Eastern European folk traditions, forging “a genre-bending musical language all their own—a sound that only emerges when these four extraordinary artists come together,” the release stated.
Fleck is widely considered the best banjo player in the world, with 19 Grammy Awards to show for his boundary-pushing style across a near-40-year career. Behind Fleck, The Flecktones boast “remarkable” careers and skill with various instruments.
Lindsey Kraft will open for Ben Folds, performing original songs from her one-woman musical, “love, me.” She’s an actress, singer and composer known for her honesty and wit, and her roles in Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie” and “Obliterated,” HBO’s “Getting On.”
“We’ve been dreaming about these shows for years; it’s hard to believe that we’ll actually get to see these artists up close and personal in our local theater,” Zirkle stated. “We feel wildly lucky just to be a part of it.”
Aside from the two shows in August, WMPAC supporters can look forward to summer programming including Big Sky Broadway Jr.’s production of Annie on June 13 at 6:30 p.m., and Shrek on June 27 and 28 at 6:30 p.m., featuring local elementary-aged children.
In addition, WMPAC’s Tiny Theater will return to the Big Sky Farmers Market each Wednesday. Regional actors and performers will put on seven-to-10-minute performances out of a stage on wheels. The Tiny Theater performances are free and recurring during the weekly markets.
