Join the Charleston Library Society in welcoming two musical geniuses, Tenzin Chopak & Nicholas Walker, for a unique and provoking concert on April’s Second Sunday at 6:00PM. This is a free concert open to the public, so bring friends and family to experience a beautiful performance in historic setting.
To RSVP, call 843-723-9912 or email dreutter@charlestonlibrarysociety.org
“All told, this is a masterful work, both in terms of words and music. Tenzin Chopak has set a high bar, and cleared it with consummate ease.” – Jonathan Hochberg, Finger Lakes Music Press
“Tenzin Chopak and company come up with another chamber-folk masterpiece… weaving an almost mystical spell for Chopak’s compelling vocals.” Jim Catalano – Ithaca Journal
“Tenzin Chopak creates a work of strong and potent natural beauty. Fluid grace, swelling waves of sound, gentle harmonies and thoughtful words… something to be truly appreciated and enjoyed.” Tracey Craig – Rootabaga Boogie
Nicholas Walker is a musical omnivore, a musician who brings a broad range of training and experience to the double bass – classical and jazz, modern and baroque, concertos, solo recitals, chamber ensembles, and orchestral work. His enthusiasm and aptitude transcend arbitrary musical boundaries. Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Ithaca College, and is President-Elect of the International Society of Bassists, and Artistic Director/Convention Chair for the 50th Anniversary ISB convention in Ithaca in 2017. Walker leads a rewarding career as a freelance musician, composer, and educator. Walker has given masterclasses and performances in over a dozen countries, including guest residencies at leading conservatories in the U.S.A., Seoul, Amsterdam, the Hague, Oslo, Hanover, Leipzig, Rostock, Adelaide, St. Petersburg, and Beijing. As an orchestral musician, Walker has freelanced with the Oslo Philharmonic, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada, the Handel & Haydn Society Orchestra, and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. As a soloist he has premiered a concerto by Dana Wilson, and was featured at Berlin Bass 2010, several International Society of Bassist Conventions, Michaelstein Kaleidoskop, and the Beijing International Double Bass Festival. A Fulbright Scholar, Walker has diplomas from Rice University, the Nadia Boulanger Conservatoire de Paris, and Stony Brook University; earning his Doctorate in early music at Stony Brook University in 2004. Walker has been featured on a dozen CDs, three as a leader, and has frequently been heard on NPR’s Performance Today. As a composer Walker has written two double-bass concertos, several chamber works, as well as solo bass pieces, one of which won first prize winner in the ISB Composition Competition.
Tenzin Chopak (vocals, guitar, piano), is an artist and songwriter now based in Ithaca, NY. The son of a minister and an artist, Tenzin learned to love music in his father’s church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He studied voice, piano, and guitar throughout his childhood, performing his original music frequently while dreaming of making it a full time profession. In 1999, after some years of a burgeoning devotion to the study of Tibetan language and religion, he traveled to North India. It was during his eight month stay there that he was given the name “Tenzin Chopak”. For the following twelve years, while continuing his study of Tibetan in upstate, NY, Tenzin kept music a quiet if not hidden part of his life. In late 2011 he began to write and perform publicly again. Teaming up with Richie Stearns, Rosie Newton, Eric Aceto, Harry Aceto, and Ethan Jodziewicz, he formed Rockwood Ferry as a vehicle for his music. Since then he has been the driving force behind two Rockwood Ferry albums, composed music for film, and has rapidly gained recognition for his songwriting, singing, and for his presence and joyful abandon in live performance. Tenzin presents his work beyond genre with something akin to pure theater, evoking the primal feeling and texture of universality that is present in roots traditions, yet with a charged vulnerability and intimacy in both his dynamic musicality and elegant lyricism.