Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) opens its 2018-19 season with a performance by duo Fire and Grace, featuring guitarist William Coulter and violinist Edwin Huizinga.

Fire & Grace’s programs explore the connective musical elements of classical, folk, and contemporary traditions from around the world, showcased through the duo’s own arrangements. Concerts are held on Thursday, September 27, at 7:30 p.m. at An Beal Bocht Café in Riverdale, Bronx, in collaboration with Classical Café, with additional performances on Friday, September 28, at 7 p.m. at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 in Manhattan, and on Sunday, September 30, at 3 p.m. at Alice Austen House in Staten Island.

Additional 5BMF performances in the 2018-19 season include An Empire of Silver & Gold: Music of 18th Century Latin America, an exploration of 18th century vocal and instrumental pieces from Latin American manuscript sources on November 5; the return of baroque virtuosi, Les Délices, in a new program entitled Songs Without Words on February 23 & 24; the award-winning all female Aizuri Quartet on March 22; a collaboration with pianist Martin Katz and the Brooklyn Art Song Society in Hugo Wolf: The Complete Mörike-Lieder on April 28, May 3 and 4; and concludes with two special programs celebrating LGBT composers and librettists in collaboration with the New York Festival of Song and the LGBT Community Center (“The Center”) on June 11 and 25.

Fire & Grace is an eclectic collaboration between guitarist William Coulter and violinist Edwin Huizinga. This unique duo explores the connective musical elements of classical, folk, and contemporary traditions from around the world. Fire & Grace’s repertoire is vast, ranging from Bach to Vivaldi, tango to Celtic tunes, traditional Bulgarian to American fiddle tunes and waltzes, all played with a sense of discovery and commitment to the elements of passion and virtuosity — fire and grace — found in these diverse traditions. Recent and upcoming performances have included engagements at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Mozaic Festival, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, the Electric Earth Concerts, the Monterey Museum of Art, and with Tomaseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas. In March and April 2017, Fire & Grace toured to New Zealand with appearances at the UPSURGE Festival, the Festival of Colour, and the New Zealand School of Music. The group’s self-titled debut album combines melodies from Argentina, Bulgaria, and Western Europe with dance elements from baroque and folk musical traditions. 

Five Boroughs Music Festival’s mission is to enrich communities and cultivate new audiences by bringing world-class, affordable chamber music to all corners of New York City. It collaborates with local cultural institutions to present up-and-coming artists alongside the genre’s most distinguished performers. It challenges the standard definition of “chamber music” by presenting a broad range of musical styles, from early music to contemporary works, world music and other non-classical forms. Check out more details online.