Page 6 - Arts Center Nazareth College Program 1

Velvet Caravan
Ricardo Ochoa, violin • Jared Hall, keyboards • Eric Dunn, bass Vuk Pavlovic, percussion • Jimmy Grant, guitar
This unorthodox, high-energy, acoustic-based quintet of guitar, violin, standup bass, percussion, and keyboards (including accordion) has emerged as one of the shining lights of Savannah’s burgeoning music scene. The band has grown from a somewhat informal instrumental combo that routinely drew enthusiastic and loyal followers
at raucous restaurant and bar gigs to a respected and admired touring act that’s as comfortable in an attentive listening room or large concert hall as they are in a crowded nightclub.
Velvet Caravan’s unique ability to subtly shift musical gears without sacrificing their integrity as composers and performers is rare indeed.
“Gypsy or Romany music is the root of our sound and style, but we are far from being a traditional band in that genre,” explains the group’s co-founder, classically trained Venezuelan-born violinist Ricardo Ochoa.
Keyboardist Jared Hall, who was raised in Iowa but made a name for himself in the adventurous roots music mecca of Austin before relocating to Savannah, concurs with Ochoa that this mixture of influences and styles was at first unintentional, but adds that once the band members (which also include Georgia-born bassist Eric Dunn, Serbian/American percussionist Vuk Pavlovic, and West Coast guitarist Jimmy Grant) realized the creative potential of their partnership, “it soon became intentional.”
The band just released their latest album, A Stroke of Good Fortune, and is hard at work on writing and arranging original material for their third album, which they plan to record in 2019. They are also actively booking all manner of engagements far from their home-base of Savannah, Georgia—from nightclub residencies to listening room one-nighters to featured guest appearances with small orchestras and full-sized philharmonic symphonies.
Jessica Ann Best
Jessica Ann Best (mezzo-soprano) is a versatile artist, known for her dramatic interpretation and beautiful sound that crosses the operatic, musical theater, and concert stage. Best debuted Gordon Getty’s The Canterville Ghost and Usher House at LA Opera, the International Carol Suites by Mark Hayes at Carnegie Hall, the roles of Bessie and Mary Rivers in Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre with The Center for Contemporary Opera, and the title role in Alice Ryley, by Michael Ching, at the Savannah Voice Festival. This year, Best returns to Opera Tampa to premiere a leading role in Anton Coppola’s opera, Lady Swanwhite. She will also make her debut with the Helena Symphony and return as a featured artist at The Savannah Music Festival next spring.
Best tours with Velvet Caravan and has been a featured artist with The Savannah Music Festival, The Savannah Voice Festival, The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Florida Orchestra, The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Tampa, Gotham Chamber Opera, Nickel City Opera, and Finger Lakes Opera. She is thrilled to return to her alma mater, Nazareth College, for this performance.
6 NAZARETH COLLEGE ARTS CENTER