PUBLIQuartet perform in full for the first time their latest album “What is American,” which highlights our country’s complex histories with the Black and Indigenous roots of contemporary, blues, jazz, free, and rock music. Presented in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.

LIVE AT NATIONAL SAWDUST // 6:30PM DOORS

November 11, 2022

7:30 pm

2018-2019 Artists-in-Residence PUBLIQuartet return for their fourth appearance on the National Sawdust stage, this time performing in full for the first time their latest album “What is American.” In their third album, the Grammy-nominated string quartet highlights our country’s complex histories with the Black and Indigenous roots of contemporary, blues, jazz, free, and rock music. Intended as a call to reflect on the question and statement "What is American" in an increasingly divided country, PUBLIQuartet's latest album journeys through America’s rich musical history. Together, violinist Jannina Norpoth, violinist Curtis Stewart, violist Nick Revel, and cellist Hamilton Berry reimagine old work with improvisations on music by Ornette Coleman, Alice Coltrane, and Betty Davis. With this genre- and centuries-spanning program, PUBLIQuartet reveal the multicultural roots of American music’s past and assert Black and Indigenous people’s place in its present and future. By bringing marginalized voices back into the fold of western classical music, PUBLIQuartet expand western classical music’s ability to respond to and reflect on the most pressing issues of our time.

Co-presented with the Sphinx Organization. This performance is one of a series reflecting both National Sawdust and Sphinx's commitment to empowering diverse voices that are reshaping the landscape of western classical music.

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