The Department of Music and Dance at Swarthmore College presents a solo performance by multi-Grammy Award-winner and MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile, a mandolin virtuoso, composer, and vocalist. The performance will take place on Saturday, September 23, 2017, at 8 p.m. in the intimate 450-seat Lang Concert Hall on the Swarthmore College campus.  

Chris Thile rose to fame as a member of the Grammy Award-winning trio Nickel Creek, with whom he released four albums and sold over two million records. Their most recent album, A Dotted Line, was released in 2014.  As a soloist, Thile has released five albums including his most recent album, Bach: Partitas and Sonatas, Vol.1, which was produced by renowned bassist Edgar Meyer. In February 2013, Thile won a Grammy for his work on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, collaborating with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Stuart Duncan. 

In September 2014, Thile and Meyer released Bass + Mandolin, which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Thile is also a member of Punch Brothers, who released their latest album, The Phosphorescent Blues, in January 2015. Most recently, he released two collaborations in 2017: Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau, a duo record with renowned pianist, Brad Mehldau, and Bach Trios— a collection of Bach pieces with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer.

Says Daniel Underhill Professor of Music and Chair Thomas Whitman '84, “We are extraordinarily fortunate to be able to host the multifaceted Chris Thile. His probing musical intelligence and his astonishing ability to cross stylistic boundaries make him a superb complement to our liberal arts program.”

Andrew Hauze '04, lecturer in music, adds, “Chris Thile is one of the most innovative and virtuosic musicians of his generation. The breadth of his musical approach is amazing, and I am thrilled that our students will get to experience his demonstration and concert in the intimate space of Lang Concert Hall.”

The event is sold out.  

This concert is made possible by the Gil and Mary Stott Concert Fund. The Gil and Mary Stott Concert Fund was established in 1997 on the 25th anniversary of the Lang Music Building. The fund was created as an expression of deep affection for the Stotts by the late Eugene M. Lang '38 to recognize their special artistic talents and all that they have meant to the Swarthmore community. Beginning in 2010, the Stott Concert Fund is used to underwrite the Gil and Mary Stott Chamber Music Master Class Series, bringing prominent New York, national, and international artists to campus for one-day coaching sessions with multiple student ensembles.

For more information, please contact Jeanette Honig, concert & production manager, at 610-957-6159.