Vartan Mamigonian

Tickets: $10/$8 students

"Vartan Mamigonian is the nom de skronk of sax machine Patrick Breiner, who, right now, sounds a bit like a Conic Sections Evan Parker 45 played at 33 1/3." - Bret McCabe, Baltimore Citypaper

Patrick Breiner chooses to use the alias Vartan Mamigonian while performing his solo saxophone works. He is, after all, not himself when summoning everything from ferocious screams to velvety subtone from his instrument whilst weaving hypnotically rhythmic melodies. Vartan Mamigonian appears in both history and literature as both sinner and saint. Similarly, Breiner's works can be tender or abrasive or anywhere in between.

Becca's music is unique and modern, influenced by her studies in classical guitar, her training in vocal jazz, and her North Carolina folk music roots. Her songs have an instant appeal, but are deeply personal.

Hailed by the New York Times as a "best-kept secret" with an "impressively absorbing" debut album, Becca Stevens has roots in Classical Guitar, folk music and jazz, and influences ranging from West African rhythms to eccentric pop. Her accomplished career at the young age of 24 follows several different paths-- from being the acclaimed lead singer of Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra to writing original lyrics for jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, Becca Stevens shows versatility and creativity in numerous projects.

Becca began her musical life at an early age singing and performing with the family band, the Tune Mammals. By the age of two she had already recorded her first record with the group. She attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, majoring in classical guitar, and proceeded to The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music where she received a BFA with high honors in jazz voice and composition. It was at the New School that Becca met the members of the Becca Stevens Band. The Becca Stevens Band is unique by virtue of its eclectic instrumentation and musical sophistication. All the band members sing and are multi-instrumentalists. In addition to the conventional guitar, bass, piano and drums quartet, the banjo, ukulele, charango, kalimba, glockenspiel and dense vocal harmonies play a large part in the band's arrangements and its modern sound.

". . . a sound both wistful and determined, reflecting her training in classical guitar; jazz and pop singing; and the dramatic, Celtic side of Appalachian folk music." Nate Chinen, New York Times

". . . a rare balance between the use of the mind and a surrender to the emotions." Kate McGarry, jazz vocalist