Jeremy Kittel is an American violinist, fiddler, and composer. He received a Grammy nomination for “Best Instrumental Composition” in 2019 alongside prevalent composers such as John Williams and Terence Blanchard. Fluent in multiple musical genres, he composes original music that draws from a wide variety of influences including folk, jazz, celtic, classical, electronic, and more.

Jeremy performs with his group Kittel & Co., as a soloist with orchestras, and in collaborative and supporting roles with many of today’s leading artists. In demand as a composer and arranger, he has worked with Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck, Zedd, Aoife O’Donovan, My Morning Jacket, Shawn Mendes, Theo Katzman, Jars of Clay, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Laura Veirs, Sara Watkins, Renee Fleming, and the Turtle Island Quartet (of which he was a member for five years). He has also recorded and performed with artists such as Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Jon Batiste, Fleet Foxes, and Esperanza Spalding.

Kittel & Co. (“Kid-dle and Koh”) inhabits the space between classical and acoustic roots, Celtic and bluegrass aesthetics, folk and jazz sensibilities, and has performed at venues such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Celtic Connections, and A Prairie Home Companion. The group released its debut album, Whorls, in 2018, to critical acclaim; the current lineup features Kittel along with mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham (named “the future of the mandolin” by Mandolin Magazine), transcendent bassist Jacob Warren, guitarist Quinn Bachand (called “Canada’s top Celtic guitarist” by Ashley MacIsaac), and hammer-dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman (acclaimed for bringing a new tonal flexibility to the instrument).

Kittel has a master’s degree in jazz performance from the Manhattan School of Music and received the 2010 Emerging Artist Award from the University of Michigan (his alma mater). He is the recipient of awards including the US National Scottish Fiddle Championship and six Detroit Music Awards, and has contributed to many Grammy-nominated recordings. He was also the first recipient of the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin.

Read more at jeremykittel.com

One of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” Nic Gareiss (he/they) is swiftly becoming recognized for his singular voice in the realm of dance, music, and the traditional arts. Informed by 25 years of ethnographic study and performance, Gareiss’ work draws from many percussive dance practices to weave together a technique facilitating his love of improvisation; clog, flatfoot, and step dance vocabulary; and musical collaboration. He has concertized in sixteen countries with many of the luminaries of roots music and folk dance including Alasdair Fraser, Natalie Haas, Bruce Molsky, The Chieftains, Colin Dunne, Darol Anger, The Gloaming, Ira Bernstein, Liz Carroll, Phil Wiggins, and Sandy Silva. Gareiss has performed at London’s Barbican Centre, the Irish National Concert Hall, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center. In addition to his two solo shows The Art of Treepling and Solo Square Dance, Nic collaborates in duo projects with Allison de Groot, Caleb Teicher, Cleek Schrey, Jake Blount, Laurel Premo, Maeve Gilchrist, Alexis Chartrand, Simon Chrisman, Ultan O’Brien, and as a member of the quartet This is How we Fly.

Learn more at nicgareiss.com