Spoleto Festival USA today announced that Grammy-nominated harpist Brandee Younger has joined the 2023 season of Spoleto Festival USA.
Younger is revolutionizing the harp for the 21st century, stretching the instrument's boundaries and musical limitations. In 2022, she became the first Black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. An avid hip-hop fan as a teen, she studied classical music at the University of Hartford and soon ventured into the world of jazz. Since then, “the most heralded new voice on the harp” (NPR) has worked with cultural icons including Common, Beyonce, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, and Stevie Wonder—as well as many jazz legends including Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, and Jack DeJohnette.
She discovered the music of trailblazing jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby by way of hip-hop's Pete Rock. Her latest album, Brand New Life, forges new paths—artistic, personal, political, and spiritual—and salutes Ashby's legacy. In five concerts during Spoleto's new Jazz at the Playhouse series, Younger presents her signature “dreamy, harp-forward, R&B-inflected jazz” (NPR).
Younger will also participate in a Jazz Talk on June 3rd at 2 pm, in conversation with Spoleto jazz curator Larry Blumenfeld.
Younger's concerts replace performances by Courtney Bryan, who, due to medical reasons, has had to cancel her Spoleto engagement. Spoleto looks forward to presenting her in the near future. Courtney Bryan's work for orchestral arrangement, Sanctum, will remain on the Music In Time series program on May 31st.
For ticket holders: Festivalgoers who have purchased Courtney Bryan tickets will automatically be transferred to Brandee Younger's concerts, no action required. If plans are changing, ticket holders may exchange tickets at no cost, request a refund, or convert the purchase to a tax-deductible donation. Ticket holders can contact the Spoleto Box Office at 843.579.3100.
