Basil Vendryes performing with Colour of Music Festival

Basil Vendryes, adjunct professor of viola at Lamont, recently participated in two different events for Colour of Music. This festival showcases top Black classical musicians from across the United States and the world, trained at some of the most prestigious music schools, conservatories and universities.

The Colour of Music Festival began in 2013 with performances at various venues throughout historic Charleston, South Carolina and has grown to debut in cities across the country with artists from across the globe.

Vendryes was a member of the Festival Octet on Wednesday, October 4, performing Felix Mendelssohn's Octet at the Moja Arts Festival in Charleston. The program also included works by Robert Nathaniel Dett, Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, William Grant Still, and Edmund Thornton Jenkins. 

In November, Vendryes traveled to Sacramento, California for a weeklong residency of chamber music and orchestra concerts. On November 7, he and his fellow chamber musicians performed at City Hall of West Sacramento; the program included Semplice Sempre for String Sextet by Shirley J. Thompson and the “Souvenir de Florence" string sextet by Peter Tchaikovsky. Another chamber music concert on November 9, at the Guild Theater, featured Vendryes as the soloist in "Music for Viola & Percussion" by Charles Knox. The residency concluded on November 11 with the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra performing works by Chevalier de Saint-Georges and concerti by Felix Mendelssohn and Beethoven. 

"It was a real treat to be a part of these activities!" said Vendryes. For more on the festival, check out their website and this review of the Sacramento residency.