On Tuesday the 15th of December at 7:00pm cellist Steuart Pincombe will bring together two of the finer things in life: Bach and Beer. While sipping on their favorite brews at Hops & Grains Brewing (507 Calles St.) audience members will discover the connections between the art of brewing and the art of playing the music of Bach. Just as many brewers follow a recipe that was used hundreds of years ago, Steuart’s approach to playing Bach also looks back on old “recipes” and methods of playing. The program of Bach’s Cello Suites will be interlaced with short explanations of Steuart’s historical, interpretive approach along with comments on the historical brewing method of each beer. Each suite will be paired with a recommended brew from Hops & Grains. The program was named one of the “Top Ten classical music events of 2014” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The concert is part of a project called Music in Familiar Spaces, a yearlong tour of the US bringing the highest level of classical music performance to homes, churches, cafés, bars, or any place where community already exists. One of the aims of the Music in Familiar Spaces tour is to make classical music accessible to a wide and varied audience. This will be accomplished not only by performing in familiar, comfortable and untraditional spaces, but by designing programs that invite the audience to experience the music in a new and engaging way. The audience will also be asked to name-their-own-ticket-price, paying what they can afford and what they deem the concert is worth. Beer will be available from the brewery for $10, which includes a souvenir class and 4 10oz samples.

Quickly establishing himself as one of the leading early/new music performers of his generation, Steuart Pincombe can regularly be heard in concert as a soloist and chamber musician in a variety of venues and festivals across North America and Europe. Steuart enjoys an active career designing creative programs and being involved in innovative collaborations with leading ensembles and performers. Highlights of Steuart’s 2014-2015 concert season include being a featured soloist with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop (DE), radio and festival appearances with Ensemble Ausonia (BE), performing with Holland Baroque Society (NL) for King Willem Alexander of The Netherlands, appearing as soloist at the Amsterdam Cello Bienalle, and launching the first season of Oerknal! (a contemporary music collective which Steuart co-founded). His concert ‘Bach&Beer’ was selected by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as one of the ‘Top 10 Classical Events of 2014’ (USA) and a concert in which he appeared as soloist with Rene Schiffer and Apollo’s Fire was numbered in London’s ‘5 Best Classical Music Moments of 2014’ according to The Telegraph (UK).

Steuart is a member of the cello and chamber music faculty at the Credo Chamber Music Festival in Ohio, co-director of the baroque program of the Crescendo Institute in Hungary, and has held residencies at various institutions and conservatories in the US. Steuart received a BM in modern cello and a MM in viola da gamba and baroque cello from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.