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Northwest Arkansas has one chance to hear “extraordinary playing from an extraordinary musician” (Gramophone) when mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile comes to Walton Arts Center for one performance only at 7 pm on Sunday, April 12. Thile will perform a selection of Bach and other classical standards.
A MacArthur Fellow, Thile is the founding member of Punch Brothers, which a Boston Globe reviewer has called “the tightest, most impressive live band I have ever seen.” The group’s six Nonesuch Label albums are Punch, Antifogmatic, Who’s Feeling Young Now?, The Phosphorescent Blues, the Grammy®-winning All Ashore and their 2022 tribute to the late Tony Rice, Hell on Church Street.
Thile’s other Nonesuch releases include a duo album with guitarist Michael Daves, two records with bassist Edgar Meyer (one of which won a Grammy), a Bach album with Yo-Yo Ma and Meyer, a duet album with jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and the T Bone Burnett–produced soundtrack to the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. He was also featured on Brad Mehldau’s Elliott Smith songbook album, Ride into the Sun.
As a soloist, Thile has released seven previous albums—most recently Laysongs, an album featuring six original songs and three covers, all of which contextualize and banter with his ideas about spirituality. He spent his formative years as a member of the Grammy–winning, multi-Platinum® selling band Nickel Creek, which reunited in 2014 for its highest-charting album to date, A Dotted Line, on Nonesuch. Nickel Creek subsequently released Celebrants in 2023. For four years, Thile hosted public radio favorite “Live from Here with Chris Thile” (formerly known as “A Prairie Home Companion”).
Thile has been performing his playfully ambitious biographical composition ATTENTION! (a narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra) around the U.S. since 2023. It tells the true story of a young Thile meeting Carrie Fisher at a rooftop bar in San Diego, transforming that moment into a larger meditation on ambition, identity and the art of performance. Additionally, he has been focused on the production of a new musical variety show, “The Energy Curfew Music Hour.” Created with Claire Coffee and featuring Punch Brothers, season one is available on Audible and all podcasting platforms.
Standard all-in ticket prices are $43.70 - $92. Prices are subject to change. Purchase your tickets now at waltonartscenter.org or by calling 479.443.5600 weekdays 10 am – 5 pm.
Support for Walton Arts Center is provided, in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Walton Arts Center is Arkansas’ largest and busiest performing arts presenter. Each year more than 215,000 people from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and beyond attend more than 300 public events at Walton Arts Center, including performances, rehearsals, community gatherings, receptions, weddings and more. Approximately 35,000 students and teachers participate annually in arts learning programs at Walton Arts Center, and almost 250 volunteers donate 28,000 hours of time each year to its operations. Walton Arts Center presents entertainers and artists from around the world including Broadway musicals, renowned dance companies, international artists, up-and-coming jazz musicians and more. As a non-profit organization, Walton Arts Center enjoys the generous support of public sector funding, corporate sponsorship and private donors, allowing audience members to enjoy world-class performances at a great price. To learn more about Walton Arts Center, visit www.waltonartscenter.org.
