Moira Smiley + Rasa String Quartet’s ‘Roots To Sky’ at Williams College
Williams College Department of Music presents special guests of the Visiting Artist Series, Moira Smiley and the Rasa Quartet. This event is free and open to the public without ticketing or reservations.
Singer / Composer Moira Smiley has toured the world and recorded with Indie-pop favorites, Tuneyards, performing with them on all the late-night TV shows, opening David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in NYC with Chris Thile, Hilary Hahn and Brad Mehldau. Recent singing for Chris Thile‘s ‘Attention’ and Laurie Anderson‘s ARK point to her academic origins in art music with Paul Hillier, Fretless Consort of Viols, Dufay Collective, Sinfonye, BBC Singers and New World Symphony. As a folksinger, she’s fronted legendary Irish-American supergroup, Solas as well as the Lomax and Folklife Projects produced by Jayme Stone, and continues to lead her own vocal collaborations as VOCO and The Voice Is A Traveler. As a composer, she’s premiered works alongside Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Shara Nova, Craig Hella Johnson, Rollo Dilworth, Reena Esmail and many others. Moira has been featured in TED conferences, on BBC Radio and TV, NPR, ABC Australia, and live at countless venues from Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall to Walt Disney Concert Hall and Royal Festival Hall. She brings vivid, embodied singing to stages tiny and grand, atop glaciers or in cozy kitchens from Trondheim to Tasmania. Moira’s 2018 solo album and songbook, ‘Unzip The Horizon’ premiered at the prestigious Savannah Music Festival, and in 2021 she released her all-vocal album ‘In Our Voices’, featuring international VOCO collaborators. Her latest album of folksongs with her arrangements for string quartet, ‘The Rhizome Project’ was released in 2024 with a companion book of photos and essays.
Rasa String Quartet explores the musical space where classical and folk traditions intersect and influence one another. Formed in 2019, the Boston-based ensemble consists of violinists Emma Powell and Maura Shawn Scanlin, violist Kiyoshi Hayashi, and cellist Mina Kim, who are graduates of the New England Conservatory, the Shepherd School of Music, and Yale University. Rasa String Quartet are winners of the 2022 Associazione Europea di Musica e Comunicazione International Chamber Music Competition (Italy), the 2021 Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition (ATL), the 2020 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition (OH), and were the 2022-23 ensemble in residence at Phillips Exeter Academy. They’ve collaborated with renowned folk musicians like Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist, Irish fiddler Liz Carroll, and singer-songwriter Judy Collins, and performed across the country at venues including the 2023 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, Celebrity Series of Boston, Rockport Music, WGBH, WBUR, and the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival. Their commitment to education has led to residencies at institutions like Walnut Hill School for the Arts, UMass Dartmouth, and Boston Music Project. By exploring the connection between music and storytelling at the heart of folk traditions, Rasa String Quartet delivers fresh, engaging performances that blend classical elegance with folk whimsy, celebrate global traditions, and elevate lesser-known composers.
Moira Smiley and the Rasa String Quartet is presented by the Williams College Department of Music with the generous support of the W. Ford Schumann ’50 Performing Arts Endowment.
Photo by Sasha Pedro.
