The weekend of May 11 and 12, audiences in the Triangle will have the opportunity to witness more than 60 musicians come together in an epic bluegrass jam session, when The Kruger Brothers join the North Carolina Symphony on the Meymandi Concert Hall stage in Raleigh.
World-renowned bluegrass band The Kruger Brothers are no strangers to bringing down-home back-porch picking to the concert hall. Growing up in Switzerland, Jens and Uwe Kruger were exposed to and trained in a wide variety of musical styles, including classical, jazz, and North American folk music; bassist Joel Landsberg, who joined the group in 1995, had a similar musical upbringing in New York. With their extensive training and wide-ranging influences, The Kruger Brothers are consummate musicians and exceptional collaborators in an orchestral setting—much to the delight of the Symphony’s players and NCS Music Director Grant Llewellyn, who will conduct the concerts.
“The Kruger Brothers are so tuned in to the collaboration with the Symphony,” says Llewellyn. “They don’t just sit out in the spotlight; there’s a real spirit of interaction, and sharing of the stage and the music.” Llewellyn notes that the quality of the orchestral arrangements is an important element. With their immense musical “chops,” as Llewellyn puts it, The Kruger Brothers have created arrangements that give orchestral musicians interesting and challenging parts to play—not treating the orchestra as a back-up band, but instead as true musical partners.
The Kruger Brothers have been based in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, since 2002—and as their home-state symphony, NCS is fortunate to have formed an ongoing relationship with the band. That relationship allows the musical give-and-take and dialogue between the two groups to grow each time they perform together, which will be an exciting element for audiences to witness.
With the honesty of their songwriting and a knack for blending diverse genres into a fresh and distinctive sound, The Kruger Brothers are considered one of the most innovative ensembles active in Americana music today. Their unique ability to infuse classical music into folk music will be even more vibrant as it comes to life on stage with the North Carolina Symphony.
In conjunction with this special Pops Series season finale, NCS will host its first-ever Young Professionals Night onSaturday, May 12. The event package for young professionals includes prime seating in a reserved section of Meymandi Concert Hall and an after-party with The Kruger Brothers and NCS musicians, hosted by the Residence Inn Raleigh Downtown, with food, a cash bar, door prizes, and plenty of mixing and mingling with musicians and music-lovers. Young professionals event packages are sold in advance only, at ncsymphony.org/kruger.
North Carolina Symphony
The Kruger Brothers
Friday and Saturday, May 11 and 12 at 8pm
Meymandi Concert Hall
Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts (Raleigh)
PERFORMERSNorth Carolina Symphony
The Kruger Brothers
TICKETS start at $58Online: ncsymphony.org (TicketMaster fees apply)
By phone: 919.733.2750 or toll free 877.627.6724 ($8 processing fee applies)
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS EVENT PACKAGES $40
Online: ncsymphony.org/kruger (Promo Code: YPSKRUGER)
About the North Carolina Symphony
Founded in 1932, the North Carolina Symphony (NCS) is a vital and honored component of North Carolina's cultural life. Its 180+ concerts and 120+ community engagement events annually are greeted with enthusiasm by adults and schoolchildren in more than 90 North Carolina counties—in communities large and small, and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. The Symphony’s full-time professional musicians perform under the artistic leadership of Music Director Grant Llewellyn.
NCS’s state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The Symphony’s service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Fayetteville, New Bern, Southern Pines, and Wilmington, as well as the Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world’s greatest talents to North Carolina and embraces home-state artists from classical musicians to bluegrass bands, creating live music experiences distinctive to North Carolina. Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads the most extensive education program of any symphony orchestra—serving nearly 70,000 students each year. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life. Music Discoveryfor preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences.
NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art, and has presented 48 U.S. or world premieres in its history. In 2017, NCS appeared at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as one of four orchestras chosen for the inaugural year ofSHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras—an honor that recognized the Symphony’s creative programming and innovative community partnerships.
The first state-supported symphony in the country, NCS performs under the auspices of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. To learn more, visit ncsymphony.org.
