Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez Trio

Waltons New School of Music

We're delighted to welcome the Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda, Antonio Sánchez Trio to Dublin and the National Concert Hall on 7 July 2025 for the New School's World Masters Series!

Concert Information

When Monday, 7 July 2025
Where National Concert Hall, Dublin, Main Auditorium
Presented by Waltons New School of Music
Tickets €20 – €50, on sale from Tuesday, 22 April
10% Discount for World Masters Mailing List Subscribers • €18 – €45
20% Discount for currently enrolled New School Students • €16 – €40

(See Waltons World Masters • Student & Subscriber Discounts for more information.)

About the Group

To be sure, the new all-star trio of Béla Fleck, harpist Edmar Castañeda and drummer Antonio Sánchez features instrumentation that might safely be called uncommon. Unless, of course, you're already familiar with 18-time Grammy Award-winner Fleck, the genre-blurring virtuoso who has done more to expand the possibilities of the banjo than any other player in the instrument's history. From his bluegrass beginnings through his otherworldly Flecktones, his duo with Chick Corea and his reimagining of Rhapsody in Blue, Fleck's work never fails to surprise. What doesn't surprise is the impeccable calibre of his collaborators — and this new trio includes two of the most gifted musicians of their generation.

Casteñada, who hails from Bogotá, Colombia, has singlehandedly cemented the harp's place in jazz with his innovative approach to the instrument and his collaborations with such music titans as Wynton Marsalis, Paco de Lucia, John Scofield, Ricki Lee Jones, Hiromi, Pedrito Martinez, Marcus Miller, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ivan Lins, The Yellowjackets and Paquito D'Rivera. 5-time Grammy winner Sánchez hails from Mexico City and built a reputation as one of the great jazz drummers through his work with guitarist Pat Metheny. He has also been a visionary bandleader, helming progressive groups like Bad Hombre, and collaborated with Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker and other giants. His Golden Globe nominated (and Grammy winning) score for Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2014 film Birdman earned him renown far outside the music world.

'This project kind of reminds me of the early days of the Flecktones, when audiences would go, "How is this supposed to work?"' says Béla Fleck.

BEATrio found its sound during a special twelve-show run at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village in 2024, where the group fearlessly explored new, original music, most of it collaboratively written. 'Each night felt like an adventure', says Castañeda, 'and it was special to see the audience experience the music's evolution. Or as Fleck puts it, 'We were hanging on for dear life. Things were going right, things were going wrong — everything was happening.'

'After playing a duo concert with Edmar, it became clear that we needed to write together, in order to accommodate the needs of harp and banjo', says Fleck. 'This is our first attempt – sometimes you get lucky, before you think too much about it!'

By the end of its Blue Note run, BEATrio had locked into a sort of telepathy, as well as a system for covering all the necessary musical ground. 'I play the groove with my left hand with Antonio', says Castañeda, 'while at the same time I play melodies and harmonies with my right hand and with Béla — a very fun challenge that makes a unique and powerful trio.'

'Edmar has quite a bit of responsibility in this particular case', Sánchez adds, 'because he functions as both the harmony and the bass.' Indeed, Castañeda sends the bottom frequencies of his harp through a proper bass rig onstage, so the low end is always present. Sánchez goes on to call Castañeda 'the glue between the banjo and the drums.'

Now the group embarks nightly on explorations that audiences will find irresistible – rich with strong melodies, gorgeous harmonies and sinuous grooves. You won't want to miss their only performance in Ireland.

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