The Alison Brown Quintet presents Bluegrass: Bending It with Folk and Jazz

You are invited to the Intersections Concert Series featuring The Alison Brown Quintet presents Bluegrass: Bending It with Folk and Jazz.

Join UC San Diego for our Intersections Concert Series at Park & Market in the Guggenheim Theatre hosted by UC San Diego and New York-based violinist Yale Strom, one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani music and history.

One of the most multi-faceted minds in roots music, Alison Brown is a GRAMMY-winning musician, GRAMMY-nominated producer, former investment banker (with an AB from Harvard and an MBA from UCLA) and co-founder of The Compass Records Group which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2023. 

Alison grew up in La Jolla and began her musical career as a teenager in the San Diego bluegrass scene. Over the course of her career, she has expanded on her love of bluegrass and built a reputation as one of today’s most forward thinking and innovative banjo players. She is known for taking the instrument far beyond its Appalachian roots by blending bluegrass and jazz influences into a sonic tapestry that has earned praise and recognition from a variety of national tastemakers including The Wall Street Journal, CBS Sunday Morning, People, NPR and USA Today. On her new release, aptly titled "On Banjo," Alison continues her musical explorations on a set of original compositions with special guests including Steve Martin, Kronos Quartet, Sierra Hull, Anat Cohen, Sharon Isbin, Stuart Duncan and members of the Alison Brown Quintet.

Alison is the recipient of the USA Artists Fellowship in Music and the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. A pioneer among women in the music industry, Alison was the first female to win an Instrumentalist of the Year award from the International Bluegrass Music Association; in 2019, she became the first female 5-string banjoist to be inducted into the American Banjo Museum’s Hall of Fame. She recently worked with the Spring Valley-based Deering Banjo Company to develop the Julia Belle model low banjo in honor of the late John Hartford.

Alison serves on the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy and as co-chair of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize. She lives in Nashville with her husband, bassist and Compass Records co-founder Garry West and their two children Hannah and Brendan.

More info: The Intersections Concert is a new interdisciplinary event series, presented by UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies, taking place at the multi-tenant, mixed-use business, arts, and educational office building in downtown San Diego’s East Village. Intersections offers new, diverse takes on traditional ideas and forms in a variety of disciplines, from artistic performances to educational lectures will take place at Park & Market’s state-of-the-art Guggenheim Theatre. Hosted by UC San Diego and New York-based violinist Yale Strom, one of the world's leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani music and history.