“It’s an honor to host a virtuosic presence like Cecilia, coming from South America on her US tour,” says Keith Marks, Executive Director of Next Stage Arts. “The fact that we get to host her and Grammy Award-winning Eugene Friesen makes the evening a one-of-a-kind performance. We’re excited to be presenting this in our region.”

Cecilia Zabala

Cecilia Zabala of Buenos Aires, Argentina is a rising star on the global music scene. With 10 CDs and close to 20 years of international touring experience to her credit, Zabala’s music embodies the deep soul of the acoustic guitar, from its Iberian and North African roots to its versatility as a worldwide voice of modern musical expression.

Cecilia Zabala’s distinction as a performing artist is multi-dimensional. From a technical perspective, she is a master singer and instrumentalist, conservatory-trained, and a respected guitar instructor in the cosmopolitan center of Buenos Aires. But her musical vision is far from staid. Her music bridges genres from the European classical guitar tradition to Brazilian bossa nova and MPB, from Chilean Nuevo Cancion and its Argentine relative, Nuevo Cancionero, to global jazz. Her music combines many elements of global folkloric music, in a synthesis that bridges so many styles and genres that it can fairly be described as “sui generis,” or without comparison. In one respect, the essence of her artistic identity is as a singer-songwriter, but with a poetic rather than narrative character that seems distinctly South American. Her music is dreamlike and steeped in the deep soul of her native Argentina, and by extension, Spain. In performance, whether solo or with an ensemble, Zabala is mesmerizing, from start to finish. As an instrumentalist, her performances are hypnotic. As a singer and presenter, she’s both seductive, and a bit of a sorceress, or as they say in Argentina, a “bruja.”

Eugene Friesen

Vermont resident Eugene Friesen is active internationally as a cellist, composer, recording artist, and teacher. He has performed on six continents as a soloist and with the Grammy Award-winning Paul Winter Consort. Eugene is an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and on faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. More information on Eugene can be found online at www.celloman.com 

Next Stage Arts

Next Stage is located at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, VT.  Tickets are $20 in Advance / $24 At the Door.    Advance tickets are available at nextstagearts.org.  Next Stage will provide a beer, wine, and cocktail cash bar. For information, call 802-387-0102 or visit nextstagearts.org.

Next Stage serves southeastern Vermont as a regional cultural hub, arts producer, and instigator of meaningful cultural experiences. Founded in 2010 as a nonprofit organization, Next Stage Arts is a transformative, community-centered project dedicated to revitalizing Putney’s cultural and economic village center through excellence in arts programming valuing diversity as a springboard for nurturing community.

Please visit our Health & Safety page for our current COVID protocols.

For more information and updates please go to: nextstagearts.org