Sunday, March 22nd at 3pm

A Radical Welcome, presented by the Boston Public Quartet

Strand Theater - 543 Columbia Rd, Dorchester, MA 02125

Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Join us for our 3rd Annual: A Radical Welcome at the Strand Theater.

The Boston Public Quartet (BPQ) will present their third annual A Radical Welcome concert at 3 pm on Sunday, March 22nd at the Strand Theatre, with a set of three of quintets written by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Amy Beach, and Somerville-based composer Melika M. Fitzhugh, and featuring guest artists Steph Davis (marimba) and Eric Thomas (clarinet).

For nineteen years, BPQ has been presenting concerts centered in the audience experience. Boston Public Quartet was created to connect, inspire and innovate as an ensemble-in-residence in Boston’s diverse neighborhoods and is dedicated to normalizing the amplification of historically excluded voices. At the core of this program are three pieces written for string quartet plus a changing fifth instrument. Each of these pieces explores the variety of range, rhythm, and colors that five performers can create. The event will allow Boston residents who typically do not have access to classical music to experience a diverse and affordable concert program, walk away with the knowledge of three underplayed pieces from three underplayed composers, as well as a handmade memento from the concert.

“A Radical Welcome reflects BPQ’s belief that great music belongs to everyone—and that who’s in the room matters.”

— Joy Cline Phinney, pianist, Boston Public Quartet

Thanks to funding from the City of Boston and the historic Strand Theatre, tickets for the event come at a variety of accessible levels. Standard tickets are $15, with child and student tickets at $5. SNAP and WIC cardholders have access to four free tickets through the city’s Card To Culture program. Card to Culture members can enter code “C2C” at checkout for free tickets. First-time Strand Theatre attendees are encouraged to arrive twenty minutes before performance time to explore and learn about the 108 year old venue.

Steph Davis is a marimbist, gyil player, Africana studies scholar, and cultural activist. Grounded in the culture and sounds of the African diaspora, Davis’ performances can be described as sonic portraits of Black lineage, love, resilience, hope, grief, and truth. Their anthropological approach to programming explores Black historiographies and uses music to inspire truth-telling and collective liberation.

Eric Thomas has appeared as a guest artist with groups including the internationally acclaimed Apple Hill Chamber Players, Sylvan Winds, the Boston Pops Traveling Ensemble, and at festivals such as the Bravo! Festival at Vail, Wellesley Composers Conference and Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival. He has been featured soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Keene Chamber Orchestra and at Brown University, Colby College, New England Conservatory, and Phillips Academy (Andover). Also a composer, grants from the Quinney Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts allowed Eric to be artist-in-residence for the Moab Music Festival where he completed a variety of activities in the community.

Boston Public Quartet: At home performing on a street corner in Mattapan Square, the Kennedy Center in D.C. and the Harvard Musical Association in Boston, the Boston Public Quartet was created to connect, inspire and innovate as an ensemble-in-residence in Boston’s diverse neighborhoods. The BPQ is dedicated to normalizing the amplification of historically excluded voices. Through concerts, educational workshops and non-traditional performances we look forward to sharing our music and experiences with you.