Nicole Henry
By Margit Resch
If you are a member of the Fripp Island Friends of Music, you already know: the five concerts, scheduled from October 2026 through April 2027 on Sundays at 5:00 pm, will be fabulous. They always are. I have never been to a concert on Fripp when the audience did not stand up at the end to applaud, applaud, applaud, until the musicians sat back down for an encore. Or two. Then everyone goes… no, not home, everybody goes to a reception with beverages (guess what kind) and delicious hors d’oeuvres from Harold’s Chef Services—all included in the ticket price—and with a chance to chat with the musicians and your fellow Friends of Music.
If you are not a member of the FIFOM, you should consider becoming one. The Basic Membership is $100. You heard right: 100 dollars — for a great concert and a catered reception held in the Chapel and the Community Centre. One ticket for each of the five concerts is $30. If you become a member, you save… do the math… $50!
Tickets, available at the door, can be reserved in advance by texting or calling Rebecca Climer at (615) 594-1552. Please leave your name and a call back number. Adults $30, students and children free, thanks to a grant from the Peg Gorham Memorial Fund. You receive a free gate pass at the Security Gate after 4:00 pm. Go to frippfriendsofmusic.com for more information.
Our first concert is on October 11. Nicole Henry has established herself among the jazz world’s most acclaimed performers. Her versatile and emotionally driven vocal performances have captivated audiences in some twenty countries. The latest of her four CDs, “Time to Love Again,” was on the TOP-10 list for twenty weeks. Nicole has also countless awards and prizes to her name. If not starring as a guest in jazz orchestras and big bands, she tours with her quartet, entertaining through peerless interpretations of a repertoire ranging from the American Songbook to classic and contemporary jazz, popular standards, blues, and originals.
On November 8, Alexandre Dossin will earn our applause with his performance of a surprising array of piano pieces. Originally from Brazil, where he started playing piano in public at seven years old, Dossin is a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, earned a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, and is now Professor of Piano Performance and Chair of Keyboard at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance. Needless to say, Dossin keeps extremely active teaching, performing, recording and receiving prizes and awards all over the world. I don’t know what he will play for us on Fripp, but I bet you it will be a little Liszt, Beethoven, Mozart, maybe Gershwin. What are you hoping for?
On February 7, Ella and The Bossa Beat will dazzle us with a unique mixture of modern bossa nova, i.e. the Brazilian jazz style of music, combined with soulful jazz, balancing reimagined repertoire with original compositions. The father-daughter duo is composed of vocalist, pianist, and composer Ella Borges and Grammy-nominated drummer and percussionist Magrus Borges. Ella was born in Miami and raised in Brazil. She sings in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French. Magrus, an intriguingly creative drummer, percussionist, composer and producer, hails from Brazil. Ella and her father have released three albums that have captured the attention of jazz lovers all over the world.
On March 14, Brian Ashley Jones and Melanie Jean, a duo based in Nashville, TN, specializing in vocal harmony, lead guitar and bass guitar, are going to take us on a trip through the world of music rooted in country and blues genres with their gorgeous original songs, featured in film and TV, and with classic country favorites. Brian, originally from upstate South Carolina, is a soulful singer, acclaimed guitarist, and versatile song-writer. Melanie Jean from New Mexico, is equally accomplished as bassist, flautist, singer and songwriter. Brian and Melanie have joined forces and perform all over the world at festivals, clubs, and music education programs.
On April 11, the Kenari Quartet is going to try and blow us off our seats with their classical and contemporary saxophones, a category of “Blasinstrumente,” as they are called in German, appropriately, because you blow into them. Their website summarizes the quartet’s accomplishments, applauds their “flat-out amazing,” “inspiring” performances and “stunning virtuosity” that transform the common perception of the saxophone. “The quartet aims to highlight the instrument’s remarkable versatility by presenting meticulously crafted repertoire from all periods of classical and contemporary music.” I was a little apprehensive: four saxophones? So I listened to the Kenari Quartet on the internet, and let me tell you: I am hooked. I can’t wait to hear them in real life. I fact, I can’t wait to hear any of this season’s concerts.
Did you know: FIFOM’s Music in the Schools Program arranges for all the artists to perform at a Beaufort County School on the morning after each Fripp Island concert? This is a special treat for the artist(s), the teachers and the students!
We are proud that our concert series is funded in part through a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Fripp Island Friends of Music is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
No one puts on a concert quite like Fripp Island Friends of Music. Come and see and hear for yourself. And tell a friend about our season line-up.
