Ben Fleck and Abigail Washburn to perform at Hoyt Sherman Place Feb. 17

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, once described as “the king and queen of the banjo,” will perform at Hoyt Sherman Place on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased in person at the Hoyt Sherman Place Box Office, charged by phone at 800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Fleck is a 15-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Washburn, a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds. Fleck has the virtuosic, jazz-to-classical ingenuity of an iconic instrumentalist and composer with bluegrass roots. Washburn has the earthy sophistication of a postmodern, old-time singer-songwriter who has drawn critical acclaim for her solo albums.

On stage, Fleck & Washburn will perform pieces from their Grammy-winning self-titled debut as well as their new record, Echo in the Valley (Rounder 2017).  With one eye on using the banjo to showcase America’s rich heritage and the other pulling the noble instrument from its most familiar arena into new and unique realms, Bela & Abigail meet in the mean, head-on, to present music that feels wildly innovative and familiar at the same time. Whether at home, on stage or on record, their deep bond, combined with the way their distinct musical personalities and banjo styles interact, makes theirs a picking partnership unlike any other on the planet.