Join us to welcome Fish Harmonics to our outdoor, riverside stage!
Fish Harmonics is a Philadelphia-based ensemble led by accordionist Rob Curto that plays adventurous, unabashedly accordion-focused American roots music. Influenced by Celtic, Old Time, and Brazilian sounds, the band brings a unique free-wheeling and improvisational energy to both classic tunes and original compositions.
The Fish Harmonics Duo features Curto on piano and diatonic accordions with Brennen Ernst on guitar. Curto and Ernst combine their mastery for a dizzying display of flying fingers and a fearless romp through toe-tapping tunes, epic musical sagas, and good ol’ fashioned pickin’ and squeezin’--relentlessly curious about the past, present, and future which connect us through music, an evening spent with these players feels both familiar and entirely new.
https://www.fishharmonics.com/
Tickets:
$10 in advance/ $12 at door
Who’s That Playing?
Rob Curto is a musician with a reputation for dizzying skill and deft mastery of the accordion across musical and geographical boundaries.
Mixing roots Americana stylings with rhythmic and melodic elements from Brazil and Ireland, Curto has been part of a movement to establish the accordion as a versatile and important instrument in contemporary roots music.
A second generation Italian-American raised in NYC on Swing-Era Jazz, Curto set off to explore musical roots and has dedicated his craft to the accordion, gaining a reputation as an all-around master of the instrument in high demand across genres. His musical collaborations include performing and recording with Latin Grammy award winner Lila Downs; Klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer; trumpeter/composer Frank London; Punjabi Indian singer Kiran Ahluwalia; and icon of Brazilian Forró, the great accordionist Dominguinhos. His group Matuto toured extensively in 5 continents through the US State Department, carrying on a long-standing tradition of cultural diplomacy. Currently he studies Irish B/C button accordion with NEA National Heritage Fellow and multi-All Ireland Champion, Billy McComiskey, spending time zig-zagging to sessions across Co. Kerry & Co. Sligo whenever possible.
Brennen Ernst is a multi-instrumental multi-genre musical daredevil. In his career thus far he has taken on—and mastered—piano, banjo, and guitar, adding tenor vocals and exploring multiple genres, including bluegrass and old time, jazz and swing.
Originally from Lucketts, VA, he started playing piano at the age of 5. Within 3 years, he had fallen in love with the music of Scott Joplin and focused on ragtime. At 14 he picked up the banjo and was introduced to classic bluegrass, followed shortly by the guitar, ingniting passion in bluegrass and old-time music. He then discovered jazz luminaries such as Django Reinhardt, Benny Goodman, and Charlie Christian leading to his first traveling work with Seattle-based pianist and bandleader Solomon Douglas, touring the southeastern US as a teen.
In 2013, at the ripe age of 19, he started playing banjo with central Texas-based bluegrass band The Karl Shiflett and Big Country Show, until 2018. He began a long-standing partnership with the great VA fiddler Billy C. Hurt Jr., living with Hurt for three years absorbing traditional Virginian music and Appalachian life and culture. Brennen continues to play in Hurt’s old-time band, Five Mile Mountain Road, to date.
In 2016, he moved to Philadelphia to pursue more varied musical opportunities, teaching and playing jazz, ragtime, bluegrass, and more across the city and on tour with various projects.
