Chris Thile

Grammy-winning mandolinist/composer/vocalist Chris Thile — a founding member of the critically-acclaimed bands Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers — moves effortlessly between bluegrass and classical in this solo concert. 

The MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow is well-known among the NPR faithful as the host of Live from Here with Chris Thile (formerly known as A Prairie Home Companion). He is also regarded for his wide-ranging musical collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, Billy Strings, Edgar Meyer, and Brad Mehldau. With his broad outlook, Thile creates a distinctly American canon and a new musical aesthetic for performers and audiences alike.

Most recently, Chris recorded Laysongs, his first truly solo album: just Thile, his voice, and his mandolin, on new recordings of six original songs and three covers, all of which contextualize and banter with his ideas about spirituality. Recorded in a converted upstate New York church during the pandemic, Laysongs includes works by Béla Bartók and Hazel Dickens as well as an original instrumental loosely modeled after the Prelude from J.S. Bach’s Partita for Solo Violin in E Major.