Musica Sierra presents Fire & Grace & Ash
@The Nevada Museum of Art
Get your tickets here!
Musica Sierra tackles its second year of Musical Headwaters, featuring a new song cycle co-commissioned by Edwin Huizinga, and Jonathan Woody called “I am the Trout”. This incredible program features Fire & Grace & Ash, with special guest Kara Dugan. Fire & Grace & Ash is a dynamic trio made up of ace mandolin player and composer Ashley Broder, acclaimed violinist Edwin Huizinga and Grammy award-winning guitarist William Coulter. Joining the trio for this one-of-a-kind program is jack-knife mezzo soprano Kara Dugan. The program will premiere a new song cycle inspired by the illustrious trout found in the Sierra. This composition will explore the musical feel of folk Americana, particularly that of Northern California. The rest of the program will feature a blending of Bach and American fiddle tunes from the trio’s recent album Partita Americana.
About the Artists
Fire & Grace & Ash
Fire & Grace has teamed up with ace mandolin player and composer Ashley Hoyer. Hoyer is a brilliant musician who brings an authentic mandolin virtuosity and flair for modern instrumental composition to Fire & Grace – the trio is known as Fire & Grace & Ash. Our first CD – Partita Americana is now available here: Partita Americana – Fire & Grace & Ash
The recording begins with an epic blending of Bach and American fiddle tunes called Partita Americana. Other tracks include – Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar, Unless by Hawktail, BlueThrash which is a medley of old time fiddle tunes arranged by Ashley, and the gorgeous Canadian waltz called the Waltz of the Little Girls.
Kara Dugan
Mezzo soprano Kara Dugan has been praised by The New York Times for her “vocal warmth and rich character.” Her diverse career ranges from baroque oratorio to world premieres. Her work with living composers has included the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas’ Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind, a production of John Musto’s Bastianello at Festival Napa Valley with the composer at the piano, and an appearance with the Albany Symphony performing Michael Daugherty’s This Land Sings, a multi-genre tribute to Woody Guthrie. Recently, she won first place in the Rochester International Vocal Competition and was selected to be a member of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab.
Jonathan Woody, Composer
Jonathan Woody is a versatile and dynamic musician who maintains an active schedule as a performer and composer in New York and across North America. An accomplished chamber musician, Woody often performs as a member of the GRAMMY®-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street, where he has earned praise from the New York Times for his “charismatic” and “riveting” solos. He has also recently performed in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Ensemble, Les Délices, Seraphic Fire, Byron Schenkman and Friends, and TENET Vocal Artists.
Woody’s compositional voice blends 17th and 18th-century inspiration with the minimalism and socially conscious subject matter of today. Since 2020, he has received commissions from Apollo’s Fire, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Chanticleer, the Handel and Haydn Society, the Cathedral Choral Society of Washington, D.C., and the Five Boroughs Music Festival, among others.
Musical Headwaters is a Musica Sierra initiative to create new musical compositions inspired by Sierra Valley, which bridge outdoor education, school performances and Social Emotional Learning to deepen our connection to earth.
Member Institutions
Feather River Land Trust, Learning Landscape.
Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified School District (SPJUSD)
Plumas Unified School District (PUSD)
Sierra County Arts Council
Plumas Arts