Offering rustic Appalachian-inspired ballads, tunes, and hymns, Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth Laprelle possess a shared quartet of talents; both are historians, storytellers, visual artists, and gifted, intuitive musicians. Inspired by the richness and tradition of the music, Anna & Elizabeth gather songs and stories from visits with elders and archives. Then they bring these songs to life with sparse, atmospheric arrangements using guitar, banjo, fiddle, and their voices in close harmony. They accompany their songs with story “crankies”—intricate picture-scrolls that illustrate the old songs they sing using papercuts, shadow puppets, prints, and embroidered fabric.
Multimedia performance artist Miwa Matreyek will open the show with her unique combination of animation, song, and movement. Matreyek’s performances fuse haunting music with immersive animation and interactive shadow play. Her work combines handmade and tech elements and often centers around the theme of conflict between man and nature. “Magical…the sheer breadth of the imagery…is unlike anything you’ve seen before,” says the Los Angeles Times.
