Friesen & Martin Eugene Friesen, cello; Joel A. Martin, piano
with
Myles Bullen poet/rapper
Friday, July 14, 7:30PM The Stone Church/Immanuel Episcopal 20 Church Street Bellows Falls, VT
Vermont cellist Eugene Friesen brings pianist Joel A. Martin to Bellows Falls for the local debut of “Friesen & Martin.” The duo explores the intersection of jazz, classical and world music styles with a melodic and rhythmic improvisatory style born from decades of concerts on six continents.
Friesen & Martin will be joined by poet/rapper Myles Bullen. Based in Portland, Maine, Bullen has a fresh, positive message and a rhythmic vitality that provokes thought and emotion in multiple generations of listeners. Blending rap into an innovative chamber setting, “Planet Talk” is a unique exploration of multiple styles with an emphasis on beauty, love, and community.
Cellist Eugene Friesen is well known to local listeners. A multiple Grammy Award-winner with the Paul Winter Consort, and professor at the Berklee College of Music, Friesen is active internationally as a performer, composer, and recording artist. He lives in Bellows Falls and is music director of the Stone Church Arts concert series.
Joel A. Martin is an award-winning concert and jazz pianist who has performed his innovative Jazzical compositions as well as jazz and classical pieces both domestically and in Paris, London, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Joel has performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Delaware Symphony, Springfield Symphony and Hartford Symphony Orchestras premiering Jazzical: Dueling Orchestras. He has been featured on BET (Black Entertainment Television) in "BET on Jazz," NBC-TV and performed his original Jazzical compositions at the Savannah Music Festival, Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, Snug Harbor, Kennedy Center, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In addition to his prodigious productions and concert schedule, Joel is also touring with famed soprano Kathleen Battle in international concert appearances.
Spoken word performer, teaching artist, and “play expert” Myles Bullen is a radical poetic rapper who touches on self empowerment, social issues, uplifting oppression, and creating community. He performs in schools, living rooms, juvenile prisons, rehabilitation centers and conscious music festivals around the U.S. The well-traveled, hip-hop poet is also a creative writing educator teaching poetry to teens in juvenile detention centers, public and private schools, and other art related programs. Myles has explored most of the United States as well as parts of Europe touring his music, writing and teaching poetry.