Accentuating the synergy of classical music — and everything after it, this quintet of versatile chamber musicians was awarded the First Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2020 SAVVY Chamber Competition — in addition to DePauw’s 21CM POP Organization of 2018. The group’s multifaceted “Dreamland” program, featuring creative arrangements of classics from Duke Ellington to Rimsky-Korsakov to Radiohead, alongside the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe, Gertrude Stein and Maya Angelou, celebrates the rich diversity of contemporary culture.
Green Guest Artist Concerts
Green Guest Artist Series Schedule
Each year, we invite artists of international renown to perform as part of our endowed Green Guest Artist series. Among the incredibly talented guests who have performed at the DePauw University Green Center are Yo-Yo Ma, Rhiannon Giddens, Thomas Hampson, Bobby McFerrin, Postmodern Jukebox, The Kings’s Singers, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Frederica von Stade, to name only a few. These concerts are often preceded by master classes, workshops, and classroom visits to give all of our students a chance to meet and work with some of the best artists in the world. This year, we welcome the New York-based Founders ensemble, trumpeter Sean Jones, and multi-instrumentalist Jerron Paxton.
Founders Ensemble
September 20, 2023 • 7:30 PM • Kresge Auditorium
Sean Jones, trumpet, with the DePauw Jazz Festival Orchestra
November 17, 2023 • 7:30 PM • Kresge Auditorium
Jerron Paxton
February 21, 2024 • 7:30 PM • Thompson Recital Hall
Past Guest Artists
- 2022–23: Sweet Honey in the Rock, The American Brass Quintet, Terell Stafford, Sinta Quartet, Wet Ink, Sandeep Das and the HUM Ensemble
- 2021–22: Rhiannon Giddens, Eighth Blackbird, Attacca Quartet, Baltimore Consort
- 2020-21: Imani Winds; Quince; Mike Block, Balla Kouyaté & Friends; Spektral Quartet
- 2019–20: Postmodern Jukebox, Awadagin Pratt, Vijay Iyer Sextet, Lawrence Brownlee, Israeli Chamber Project, Third Coast Percussion
- 2018–19: Bang on a Can All-Stars, Conspirare, New York Voices, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with cellist Julian Steckel, International Contemporary Ensemble
- 2017–18: Yo-Yo Ma and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Jazz and Dance Company, Sybarite5, Eddie Henderson, Seraphic Fire, Imani Winds, Harlem String Quartet
Featured Artist Profiles
Music and spirituality have always been intertwined in the artistic vision of trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and educator Sean Jones. Comfortable in any musical setting no matter the role or genre, from Lincoln Center to the Green Center, Jones’s extraordinary musicianship allows him to move seamlessly from setting to setting, be it intimate, orchestral or big band — as our Green Guest Artist and as headliner for DePauw School of Music’s 2023 JazzFest.
Raised in the Watts district of Los Angeles but deeply influenced by the music and culture of his Louisiana family heritage, this multi-instrumentalist storyteller plays traditional American music of all kinds. Now based in New York City where he is part of a lively traditional music community, Paxton travels the country sharing his immense musical gifts and extensive knowledge of nineteenth and twentieth century country blues, ragtime, and old-time string band music.
Acknowledgements
The Green Center for the Performing Arts thanks the forward-thinking and generous sponsors who help to provide the DePauw and Greencastle communities with meaningful and memorable cultural experiences.
These activities are made possible in part by Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.
