Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone will be debuting a banjo concerto written for him on July 22 in London, Ontario.
The piece is being written by Andrew Downing, and is set to premiere during the Home Country Folk Festival with members of Orchestra London.
Stone said that the piece is being written for banjo plus violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, oboe, french horn and percussion. The 7/22 program will also include new arrangements of original tunes of his and Andrew’s for this instrumentation.
As Jayme tells us…
“Andrew Downing is a Canadian composer, arranger, cellist and double bass player who I’ve been working with for almost fifteen years. The commission was instigated by Catherine McInnes, the artistic director of the Home County Folk Festival in London, Ontario. She’s trying to shape the festival to be a creative incubator in which artists can create new work, and not just showcase music from their records.
Andrew and I had been talking about collaborating on a project, so when the festival approached him to write a piece for orchestra that had a folk element to it, he immediately asked if I’d like to do a banjo concerto. I’ve been playing more chamber music these days and this feels like a natural inroad into that world.
As it happens, I also play a lot with Joe Phillips, who’s the principal bassist with Orchestra London.”
Stone will be appearing at several classical music festivals this summer, offering a program of Bach and DeBussy, mixed with his own world folk music for banjo.
Find more details on all his shows online.
