From shape-note hymns to Aaron Copland, blues to bluegrass, and Lindy Hop to hip-hop, Fireworks weaves a rich tapestry of American music.

“The group took the audience on a journey across America, traversing time and space to give us musical vignettes that showed the many similarities of seemingly disparate styles… Ensemble members demonstrated their ability to play in various styles with attention to detail and great authenticity, virtuosity, and style.”  — Abel Searor, The Syracuse Post-Standard

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American Tapestry celebrates the diversity of American music and reveals the threads that weave it together: native American tunes emerge in American folk songs, folk melodies surface in the classical concert music of Charles Ives and Aaron Copland, fiddle tunes of European immigrants find a new voice in bluegrass and Cajun music, and classical music and jazz wind their way into the urban dance music of techno and hip hop.

Sample Program

Traditional (Navajo): Spinning Song
Dick Dale: Miserlou
Dolly Parton: Jolene
MacDowell/Foster: Ah, May the Wild Rose Live Always
Los Lobos: Kiko and the Lavender Moon
George Gershwin: Prelude No. 2
Bill Monroe: Bluegrass Breakdown
Traditional (Missouri Valley): Shenandoah
Sam Li`a Kalainaina, Sr.: Hi’ilawe
Leonard Bernstein: Dances from West Side Story
Mercer Ellington: Jumpin’ Punkins
A Tribe Called Quest: Check the Rhime
Traditional (Cajun): Madeleine
Meade “Lux” Lewis: Honky Tonk Train
Derrick May: Strings of Life
Traditional (Appalachia): Black is the Color
Jim James: Gideon
John Newton: New Britain (Amazing Grace)
Aaron Copland: Hoe-Down

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