Grammy® Winning Banjo Duo Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn perform East Coast premiere of “Dreams in Flight” with SC Philharmonic
February 10, 2025
Highly anticipated concert comes to Columbia, SC on February 22 at Koger Center
The South Carolina Philharmonic, winner of the 2024 Governor’s Award for the Arts, continues its 60th Anniversary Season by welcoming Grammy® Winners Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn to the Koger Center for the Arts on February 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM. This highly anticipated concert, entitled Americana: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, is built from works by American composers. Opening the evening will be Carlos Simon’s Amen! followed by Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1 in One Movement. The evening will conclude with the East Coast premiere of Dreams in Flight, a symphonic banjo concerto conceived and composed by Fleck and Washburn. Tickets range $36-$83 and can be purchased at scphilharmonic.com or by calling the Koger Center Box Office at (803) 251-2222, Mon-Fri. 9AM-5PM. Half-price student rush tickets are available 30 minutes prior to the concert for in-person purchases in select sections.
Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn have a musical partnership like no other. Having won a 2025 Grammy® this month for his collaboration with pianist Chick Corea, Fleck is an eighteen-time GRAMMY® Award-winner who has the virtuosic, jazz-to-classical ingenuity of an iconic instrumentalist and composer with bluegrass roots. His collaborations range from his most recent release and celebrated return to bluegrass, My Bluegrass Heart, to his groundbreaking ensemble, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, to concertos for full symphony orchestra and an exploration of the banjo’s roots across Africa. Abigail Washburn is a GRAMMY® Award-winning singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who has drawn critical acclaim for her solo albums and has done fascinating work in folk musical diplomacy in China.
Dreams in Flight is a collection of pieces including traditional and original songs and new classical compositions that express the journey of human desire for a better life. Drawing inspiration from Appalachian folk music legends including Frank Jenkins, Roscoe Holcomb, Lily Mae Ledford, John Hammond, and Hazel Dickens along with original compositions from Béla and Abigail, the work takes listeners through the timeless oral tradition of the human voice, the ancient tones of the banjo, and the power and beauty of the orchestra.
Tickets for Americana: Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn can be purchased through the Koger Center Box Office at kogercenterforthearts.com, by calling (803) 251-2222, or visiting in-person at 806 Park Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Tickets for this concert range from $37 in the balcony to $83 for premium seating.
South Carolina Philharmonic Mission
The South Carolina Philharmonic is committed to performing live symphonic music and providing dynamic educational opportunities in the Midlands. We carry forward a legacy of passion for the music and embrace our responsibility to be a vibrant part of the cultural fabric of our diverse community.
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