The LaCroix Music Series brings the Grammy-winning duo to the Quick Center for the Arts.
Mark O’Connor was 12 when he walked onto the Grand Ole Opry stage as a soloist, introduced by Roy Acuff. A year later, he became the youngest person to win the Grand Master Fiddler Championships, competing against amateurs and professionals of every age. His early teachers were Benny Thomasson and Stéphane Grappelli, and The New York Times has called his career “one of the most spectacular journeys in recent American music.”
On Sun., December 6, at 3 p.m., O’Connor and his wife, violinist and vocalist Maggie O’Connor, bring An Appalachian Christmas to Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts as part of the LaCroix Music Series. The concert draws on Americana, bluegrass, jazz, and American classical music, centered on songs for the season.
Mark O’Connor has won three Grammys and seven CMA Awards, and his Sony Classical recordings with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey, have sold a million copies. His Fiddle Concerto has received more than 250 performances. It is often described as the most-performed violin concerto composed in the last 50 years. Chet Atkins said, “Mark O’Connor has been astounding listeners with his genius since he was 13. I believe he and Itzhak Perlman are two of the greatest musicians on the planet today.”
Maggie O’Connor trained at a conservatory and grew up in a bluegrass family; she plays fiddle and sings in the duo. She has recorded with Zac Brown and Paul Simon, among others. Connect Savannah described the pair as “a brilliant and beautiful duo whose chemistry is undeniable.”
