Savannah Music Festival positions itself at the crossroads of global roots music

Seventeen years ago, when Ryan McMaken traveled to Savannah to interview for the marketing director job with the Savannah Music Festival (SMF), he was surprised to see the diversity of musicians on display on a poster in the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport — classical and jazz legends and international performers just on the cusp of stardom.

For a small town, “this was pretty major to see this mix of music,” recalled McMaken, who has served the past five years as the music festival’s artistic director, the enthusiastic, curious and thoughtful curator of its wide array of musicians and vocalists. “It’s important to us to be a leading presenter in booking roots music from around the world.”

Now entering its 35^th season, SMF’s “World of Music. One City” tagline runs like a continental stitch through the 17-day festival’s sound tapestry, beginning March 28 with Malian superstar Oumou Sangaré and ending April 13 with a Goya-inspired flamenco performance by Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca.

In between, the festival celebrates every kind of music from arias to Zydeco, and there will be many firsts, and a few homecomings.

Savannah Music Festival celebrates music from arias to Zydeco

The official kickoff for the festival is March 23’s Spring Fling Benefit Party and Concert, which raises funds to support SMF’s year-round artistic residencies and educational programs. Following the party, the distinctive jazz vocalist Samara Joy will take the stage at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts as part of the Faircloth Jazz Series, which offers an exhilarating lineup across the festival with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, Warren Wolf and Isaiah J. Thompson, French guitarist Stephane Wrembel, Tatiana Eva-Marie and the Avalon Jazz Band, Brandee Younger, and Matthew Whitaker.

“That was cool to land [Joy] because she’s going to be too big for SMF pretty soon, if not already,” said McMaken, speaking in terms of having a venue with enough seats to accommodate her growing popularity. Until the Johnny Mercer Theater is renovated, McMaken said, it would be hard to cover certain artists’ fees and keep tickets affordable.

“She went from doing house concerts with us … in 2022. She and her guitarist were driving from place to place and getting started, then a year later she won Best New Artist Grammy and Best Jazz Vocal Album.”

Fresh from her Kennedy Center Honors, celebrated soprano Renée Fleming brings her Grammy-winning Voice of Nature: The Anthropecene solo show to Savannah, March 31. The following day, Fleming will be part of a panel discussion entitled Music and the Mind, through SMF’s free Encounter Series, a collaboration with the Savannah Cultural Arts Center. In 2023, Fleming was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the Arts and Health for the World Health Organization because of her advocacy around the intersection of arts, health and neuroscience, which has led to the first research collaboration between the Kennedy Center and the National Institutes of Health.

The classical track is particularly exciting this year with five co-commissioned new compositions debuting through support from the National Endowment of the Arts. Four of those co-commissions are for the Turtle Island Quartet’s April 13 performance at Trustees Theater. Composers for these pieces include quartet founder David Balakrishnan, American roots musician Rhiannon Giddens, Chickasaw classical pianist Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, and jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard.

Film composer and violinist Stefan L. Smith created the Quintet in the Key of Blue for Joseph H. Conyers and the Dubhe Ensemble. Conyers, now the principal bassist for the Philadelphia Orchestra, grew up in Savannah and has become a leading national advocate for music education.

“The Dubhe Ensemble,” said McMaken, “is primarily BIPOC classical musicians coming together over chamber music and advocacy for more representation of people of color.”

Conyers, an alum of Savannah Country Day, will be teaching at Esther F. Garrison School of the Arts for a day while he is back in his hometown.

“He’s committed to making classical music more accessible. He’s all about cracking it open,” said Allison Hersh, who is assisting with publicity for SMF.

Another Savannah native returning home is Gabrielle Lamb, founder of Pigeonwing Dance. Lamb has choreographed and will perform in Philip Dukes & Friends rendition of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.

“We’ve been talking for a line time with the Ballet Collective about doing something and it keeps getting kicked down the line,” explained McMaken. “But we need one solo dancer…to do the tango, ragtime, that whole sequence with the fiddle, and that choreographer recommended Gabrielle. A lot of people have been telling us about her, so she was home for the holidays.”

The Soldier’s Tale will narrated by SMF Executive Director Gene Dobbs Bradford.

“Gene just has the best voice,” said Hersh.

“We were thinking of auctioning off his voice for voice mail like [NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me] Carl Castle,” added McMaken.

American Roots music gets broad play in 2024, as well, with the return of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, and Rosanne Cash and John Leventhal. Special homage will be played to bluegrass standard-bearers Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs, both of whom were born 100 years ago. Marcia Ball will lead a rousing slate of Bayou Boogiers honoring the “King of Zydeco,” Clifton Chenier. New Orleans will be in the house again with Dumpstaphunk and Cha Wa. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, a rising star on the blues circuit, is “a force to behold.”

“Buddy Guy is one of his mentors,” said McMaken. “He did a 50-minute set before Buddy [in 2023], and it wasn't enough. We wanted more, basically.”

An exciting addition to the lineup: Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham, who is kicking off her tour at the SMF with Argentinian experimental pop sensation, Juana Molina.

McMaken enthused, “[Cunningham] is still in her 20s and just an incredible guitar player, original songwriter.”

What's new for SMF in 2024?

For the second year, SMF has partnered with the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) and Gulfstream to provide students with one student pass and one adulty family member pass to attend general admission shows throughout the festival for free. Students, once again, will be serving as volunteer ambassadors and student ensembles will be playing outside venues as guests arrive.

The membership-based Encore program is a new to SMF this year. Members are able to purchase tickets early and receive invitations to happy hour events throughout the festival. There is also a late-night lounge where additional and more intimate performances will take place.

District Live at Plant Riverside has been added as a venue partner, and the SMF is hosting a monthly District Live series to bring global roots music to Savannah year-round.

Nearly 50% of SMF attendees come from out-of-town. For both artists and visitors alike, the SMF is a different experience than other music festivals around the globe.

“It’s the overall experience of being able to walk from place to place. You’ve got this incredible history and food, culture and everything else that comes with visiting the town,” said McMaken of the festival’s staying power and draw for internationally renowned performers. “It’s an amazing experience for people from big cities to drive in, park the car, and be able to do all of this on foot. “All of those elements play into this festival being unique. It’s not just the program that’s happening. It’s the backdrop of it. It’s a great city.”

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to savannahmusicfestival.org/.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Music Festival positioned at crossroads of global roots music