ISSUED: 22 February 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University School of Music Salon Series, sponsored by Jefferson Security Bank, is hosting a special performance of The LUA Project on Friday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank Arts Center Theater.
The LUA Project is a unique cultural arts-based music project that performs Mexilachian music, a blend of original and traditional music from Mexico, Appalachia, and the Atlantic basin. The performance will feature songwriter Estela Knott on vocals, songwriter Dave Berzonsky on bass, Christen Hubbard on fiddle, and Dr. Sophia Enriquez on jarana, percussion, trumpet, and vocal harmony.
Called a “cultural pollinator,” the LUA Project represents the best of a new breed of Virginia artists, grounded in tradition, yet with a syncretic musical intelligence that beckons the whole world into their musical village—to build bridges across cultures and pathways into the human soul.
In conjunction with the March 4 evening performance, the LUA Project will present a series of workshops on Thursday, March 3 that are free and open to the public. The first workshop, from 12:30-1:45 p.m. in the Frank Arts Center W. H. Shipley Recital Hall, will focus on the group’s musical concept and inspirations through discussion and demonstration. In a workshop in the W.H. Shipley Recital Hall from 2-3 p.m., Knott and Berzonsky will present songwriting/lyrical and composition process. A third workshop in the McCoy Rehearsal Hall from 2-3 p.m. will feature Hubbard and Enriquez presenting jamming and threading improvisational ideas across genres.
General admission for LUA Project Friday evening concert is $15; $10 for Shepherd faculty, staff, alumni, senior citizens, active-duty military, and ages 18 and under; and free for Shepherd students with a valid Rambler ID. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the online ticket office. There is a $1 surcharge for tickets purchased in advance online and for all credit card sales. Cash or check is preferred for in-person box office sales.
Please note the current policy for attendance of live events in the Frank Arts Center. The university requires everyone on campus, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask indoors.
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