Summer is Here & Concordia SummerFest is Too!

Pictured Above: Jorge Glem and Sam Reider. Photo Cotrubited.

NEWSROOM POST: NEW HOPE, PENNSYLVANIA

New Hope, Pa – On Friday, June 9th, kick off the summer with SummerFest 2023 presented by Concordia Chamber Players at Cradle Valley Farm in New Hope, PA. Grammy-nominated, Venezuelan, cuatro virtuoso Jorge Glem teams up with American accordionist, pianist, and composer Sam Reider to create a one-of-a-kind fusion of folk music. With jaw dropping virtuosity and infectious chemistry, these musicians and friends are breaking down all the boundaries between their two continents, languages, and cultures.

“It’s a very special thing when two musical cultures come together to create something that didn’t exist before.” – NPR

Jorge and Sam blend Venezuela’s driving dance rhythms with American folk music and jazz. Their debut record, Brooklyn Cumaná, features a mix of Venezuelan and American traditional music, original compositions, and collaborations with special guests. Brooklyn Cumaná was released in November 2022 at a concert at Lincoln Center. In February 2023 Glem and Reider performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk.

Pictured Above: Sam Redier. Photo Contributed.

Sam Reider is a pianist, accordionist, composer, and educator from San Francisco, California.
His work brings together various streams of American music, from jazz and folk tunes to popular song and contemporary composition. He has appeared as a bandleader and soloist at major festivals and venues around the world and his performances and original compositions have been featured on NPR, PBS and the BBC. Reider has performed, recorded and collaborated with a range of artists including Jon Batiste, Jorge Glem, Sierra Hull, Laurie Lewis, and Paquito d’Rivera. From his genre-bending acoustic ensemble The Human Hands to his duo
collaboration with Grammy-nominated Venezuelan artist Jorge Glem, Reider’s unique compositional voice and melodicism runs throughout his eclectic projects. His 2022 solo piano record of original music Petrichor received four stars and made the Best of 2022 in Downbeat Magazine. Reider and Glem’s album Brooklyn-Cumaná was recently featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk. In addition to his work as a performer, Reider is a prolific composer and has worked with a variety of chamber ensembles and artists ranging from the Bay Area’s Del Sol Quartet to Grammy-nominated soloist Tessa Lark.

Pictured Above: Jorge Glem. Photo Contributed.

Latin Grammy Award-winning and Grammy nominated cuatro player, mandolinist and musical
producer, Jorge Glem is without a doubt one of Venezuela’s musical treasures. Raised in Cumaná, Venezuela, Glem, who currently resides in the U.S., has set out with a clear and driven purpose of presenting the Venezuelan cuatro as a universal instrument. His amazing talent and driven purpose recently allowed him to perform a solo concerto for cuatro with acclaimed conductor, Gustavo Dudamel and the prestigious LA Philharmonic, to an
exceptional standing ovation. He also recently joined celebrated multiple Grammy-winning, composer and pianist, Jon Batiste, as part of his ensemble in his sold out “American Symphony concert at the one and only Carnegie Hall in New York City. To boot, Glem has also shared the stage with renown worldwide figures such as Paquito D’Rivera, Jordan Rudess, Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, Calle 13, Natalia Lafoucarde, Gaby Moreno, Guaco, Desorden Público, Ensamble Gurrufío, Gualberto Ibarreto, Sofia Rei, Etienne Charles and many other important music personalities, accomplishing the fuse of this traditional instrument in genres such as jazz, salsa,
bluegrass, rock, and pop.

The duo will be playing selections from Brooklyn Cumaná on June 9th at 7pm at SummerFest 2023 at Cradle Valley Farm in New Hope, PA. The evening includes delicious food, cocktails, and great fun with good friends in the beautiful, warm, June weather