Darol Anger's Republic Of Strings

Darol Anger

For twenty-five years, Darol Anger has been reinventing the American string ensemble to incorporate his explorations into American traditional, bluegrass, jazz and world musics. With the Republic Of Strings, his collaboration of acknowledged masters and young prodigies, the limits of the string quartet are once again exploded. As with the seminal Turtle Island String Quartet, where Anger's inventiveness helped to radically alter string quartet repertoire and technique, Darol Anger's Republic Of Strings combines the future of the string quartet and the traditional string band, bringing the two forms together to invent something entirely new.

Darol Anger's musical collaborations have included the Turtle Island String Quartet, the David Grisman Quintet, Psychograss and Newgrange, the Anger-Marshall Duo, The Fiddlers Four and Montreux. His discography features dozens of recordings with these and many other groups. He has performed all over the world for the last 30 years, helping redefine string music. He is an award-winning composer, with composer fellowships from the California Council for the Arts and the MacDowell Colony. He serves as string chair for the American Jazz Educators Association, and is a contributing editor with Strings Magazine.

Scott Nygaard

Scott composes for and plays guitar in the R.O.S. He has distinguished himself as one of the most influential and intelligent guitarists in contemporary string band music. He has recorded and toured extensively with Tim O'Brien and Laurie Lewis. His own recordings are available on Rounder Records, and he is featured on recordings by Jerry Douglas, Chris Theile, and David Grisman. Nygaard incorporates bluegrass, jazz, swing, old-time and rock & roll into an liquid and forceful guitar voice. He is the editor-in chief of Acoustic Guitar magazine, and writes literary fiction in his spare time.

Future R.O.S. shows will see Darol featuring new young talent; the level of musicianship of young fiddlers has never been higher or more consistent.

Tristan Clarridge:

A talented multi-instrumentalist, Tristan Clarridge is the youngest person ever to win the Grand National Fiddle Championships, successfully achieving that title for three years running, with a 4th win in 2006. Beyond his extensive contest achievements, his abilities span many genres of music with a unique and expressive style. Mark O'Connor writes, It's difficult to detect Tristan's youth because of his mature phrasing and old time flair. He has a lot going on in his musical mind, and will step out to make wonderful contributions through his music. As a cellist, Tristan is one of the few in the country to adapt rhythmic celtic and bluegrass playing to the cello, and has worked closely with Natalie Haas and Rushad Eggleston. Mick Moloney writes in his notes for the Clarridge's recent CD: Tristan and his sister Tashina play an impressive mixture of bluegrass, Texas-style, old-time and Cape Breton tunes in their rapidly expanding repertoire. They are sure to become nationally and internationally recognized.

At the age of 15, Alex Hargreaves of Corvallis, Oregon, has been playing violin and fiddle music for more than eleven years. Along the way, he has studied and performed a wide variety of string music styles including classical, jazz, bluegrass, newgrass, oldtime, Scottish, Texas style, and western swing. He loves them all. In June, 2007, Alex won the Grand Champion division at the National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest in Weiser, Idaho. He is the youngest contestant ever to win the Grand Champion division. In 2007, Alex was awarded a Belle Foundation Cultural Development grant for his musical achievements and was also chosen for an Alternative Styles award from the American Strings Teachers Association. In 2005, Alex was awarded the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin.

Brittany Haas

Brittany Haas and her equally talented sister Natalie Haas have been making waves all over the string world since 2002. A student of the great Appalachian fiddler Bruce Molsky, Brittany came to study with Darol and soon was a charter member of the nascent Republic Of Strings. She has played all over the world with many musical organizations including Alasdair's Scottish Fiddle Project, Tony Trischka, her sister Natalie, and the Republic. She is an instructor at Mark O'Connor's Fiddle Conferences and is currently studying Music and Biological Sciences at Princeton University.

Jeremy Kittel

"Outstanding Michigan Celtic-jazz-bluegrass fiddle wiz Jeremy Kittel" (Boston Globe) has earned a reputation as one of the nation's most creative young musicians. The 22-year-old fiddler/violinist's list of recent accolades include the 2000 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship and the 2005 Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Folk Artist. At the University Of Michigan School Of Music, where he majored in jazz, Kittel received the Stanley Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon a graduating senior. Jeremy is also a phenomenal jazz violinist, with 3 recordings released to date on his own label. He has performed at hundreds of concerts and festivals over the past six years including the Kennedy Center, "A Prairie Home Companion", & the Detroit Festival of the Arts. Jeremy graduated in 2007 from the Manhattan School Of Music.

Gabriel Witcher has been performing on fiddle since the age of 5 and dominated the Southern California fiddle contest circuit until he retired from competition at age 14. He is also an award winning guitar and mandolin player. Gabe studied music at the University of Southern California, currently tours and records with dobro legend Jerry Douglas and Chris Thile's new group How To Grow A Band, and has toured with Bela Fleck and Loggins & Messina.

R.O.S. bassist Bryn Davies has played music all her life. Born in Livermore, California, she started on piano at the age of three, eventually settling on the cello and upright bass. She attended Berklee College of Music on a scholarship majoring in Jazz Performance. She left after three years to tour. While living in Austin, she met Peter Rowan & started playing with Peter in 1998. Tony Rice joined Rowan in '99 to form the Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, which she played with through 2006, also appearing with the Tony Rice Unit. Old & In The Gray with David Grisman & Vassar Clements, and the Republic Of Strings during that time. Bryn played bass, cello and piano with Patty Griffin on her "Children Running Through" tour. She has played with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, Uncle Earl, Yonder Mountain, Guy Clark, Shawn Camp and Jim Lauderdale.

Rushad Eggleston

Rushad has brought Traditional, Bluegrass and Jazz music to the cello to create a fluid, rhythmic style unlike any cello player before him. His explorations of the instrument's sonic capabilities, and his virtuosity as an improviser make him a sought-after player in the bluegrass and acoustic music scene. Having recently graduated from the Berklee College of Music, where he was the first string player to be awarded a full scholarship, he also tours with The Fiddlers Four, with whom he recently appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, and was the first Berklee student to receive a Grammy nomination while still attending classes! He records and performs all over New England with his groups The Band Of Snee and Crooked Still.

And, sometimes, on fiddle and vocal the amazing Sara Watkins, who is an international phenomenon with her group Nickle Creek.