(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – The Hands Free, an acoustic quartet comprised of four of today’s most innovative contemporary musicians – James Moore (guitar/banjo), Nathan Koci (accordion), Eleonore Oppenheim (bass) and Caroline Shaw (violin) – performs in the second concert of the new Fringe Music series at Shire City Sanctuary on Friday, October 2, 2015, at 7pm, in conjunction with the city’s First Fridays Artswalk. Admission is free.

The music of The Hands Free draws from a twisted array of folk, jazz and classical traditions to create lush sonic textures, intricate compositions and wild improvisations. The ensemble’s musicians boast  impressive biographies. Amongst Moore’s constant flurry of musical activity was this summer’s collaboration between his electric guitar quartet Dither and Yo La Tengo at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival. Koci plays both accordion and French horn extensively with chamber groups such as Red Light New Music and The Opposite of a Train, and also is frequently a music director on and off Broadway, including the recent critically-acclaimed bluegrass-infused reimagining of “Oklahoma” at Bard SummerScape.

Oppenheim tours internationally with groups such as Philip Glass Ensemble, Victoire, Shara Worden, Bryce Dessner and Tyondai Braxton. Shaw, in addition to her violin prowess, is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and a vocalist with Grammy Award-winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth.

Yet the on- and off-stage vibe of The Hands Free remains free of pretense and speaks to what the group truly is: a close-knit bunch of friends who get together to create and play music because they truly love it.

On view in the gallery at Shire City on October 2  will be the  portrait work of Brooklyn-based printmaker and painter Carri Skoczek.

 

On Stage: The Hands Free

James Moore (guitar/banjo), Nathan Koci (accordion), Eleonore Oppenheim (bass) and Caroline Shaw (violin)

 

In the Gallery: Carri Skoczek, portraiture artist.

 

Gallery Opening 5pm. Concert 7pm. Free.

 

Shire City Sanctuary, 40 Melville Street, Pittsfield

Fringe Music: a new monthly free music series in collaboration with Shire City Sanctuary in the heart of Pittsfield’s cultural district.

The monthly series will be part of Pittsfield’s First Fridays Artswalk and will feature premiere contemporary musicians from across the northeast.  The music will focus on artists who come from a contemporary classical music background performing some of their genre-bending and lesser known projects about which they are most passionate.