Nashville, TN (July 25, 2013) —Renowned banjoist Noam Pikelny will deliver the keynote address during International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass 2013 event, which takes place September 24-28 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
IBMA’s World of Bluegrass 2013 event consists of three main parts: the IBMA Business Conference, which runs Tuesday through Thursday, Sept. 24-26, the 24th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, Sept. 26, and the music festival – newly re-named Wide Open Bluegrass, presented by PNC – which takes place Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27-28. New this year is “The Bluegrass Ramble,” where convention attendees and local fans will be able to “ramble” around Raleigh for five nights, sampling great bluegrass music on seven stages.
IBMA – the International Bluegrass Music Association – is the professional trade organization for the global bluegrass music community. The organization’s three-year stay in Raleigh is the result of a partnership with The Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, PineCone—The Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, the City of Raleigh and a local organizing committee.
Pikelny’s address is scheduled to take place Tuesday, Sept. 24, acting as the official kick-off for the IBMA Business Conference portion of World of Bluegrass 2013. Sponsored by and located in the Raleigh Convention Center, the Pre-Bluegrass Ramble Hors D’oeuvres & Keynote Reception will take place 4-5:30 p.m. The IBMA Business Conference features the best in bluegrass networking, showcasing and professional development.
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as the “pros’ top banjo picker," Noam Pikelny has emerged as the preeminent banjoist among a new generation of acoustic musicians. Pikelny is a founding member of Punch Brothers, a string ensemble which The Boston Globe calls “a virtuosic revelation" and The New Yorker describes as “wide-ranging and restlessly imaginative."
In September of 2010, Pikelny was awarded the first annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. Pikelny has shared the stage with The Decemberists, Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons), Béla Fleck, Dave Douglas, Steve Martin, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and members of the Lincoln Center Chamber Orchestra. Noam continues to broaden the awareness of the banjo in the mainstream through recent collaborations with Wilco, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, Lindsey Buckingham & Jon Brion for the soundtrack to This is 40 and Punch Brothers’ feature song on The Hunger Games soundtrack.
The array of guest artists on Pikelny’s most recent Compass Records project, Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail, reads like a “Who’s Who” from the world of bluegrass and acoustic music: Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Tim O’Brien, Steve Martin, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and Aoife O’Donovan. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart, and was greeted by a sold out tour.
For more details and to purchase tickets/register for World of Bluegrass 2013, the IBMA Business Conference, the International Bluegrass Music Awards, the Wide Open Bluegrass weekend festival and Bluegrass Ramble showcase passes, for lodging and camping options, and more, visit www.ibma.org or call 1-888-GET-IBMA. Wide Open Bluegrass Festival tickets (www.wideopenbluegrass.com) are available for $40-$60/day, based on seat location and IBMA membership. Tickets for children 14 and under are half price ($30 members, $35 non-members). To purchase festival tickets, go to ETix.com or call 8888-GET-IBMA.