Press

The Strad

Premiere of the Month: Kebra-Seyoun Charles’s new bass concerto

‘As an artist I think it’s my duty to be a part of this world,’ Charles continues. ‘I like to go out at night and just observe people being a part of it.’

I Care if You Listen

5 Questions to Kebra-Seyoun Charles

My continuous exposure to music solidified my view that music was meant to create community, and more importantly, to dance to! In my own music, I take that core tenet and infuse it with the music I grew to love: Western Classical music.

The Strad

Kebra-Seyoun Charles receives rare 18th-century double bass from pioneering surgeon

A surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital and former Juilliard student, Dr Jess Ting has loaned the bass attributed to Luigi Alosio Marconcini to Charles

The Strad

Bass instinct: a new generation of double bass players

The Strad speaks to five double bassists who are helping to shape a multifaceted and forward-looking new generation of players

I Care if You Listen

ChamberQUEER 2024: Constellation Takes the Music Festival to Transplendent Heights

Although Charles experiences strong reactions to their nonbinary presentation, they sought to address the stronger power dynamics of race and class. Racial bias projects jazz upon them as a Black upright bassist, although they are trained and inspired by classical symphonic repertoire; and they see classism active in both the unspoken rules of behavior and in a hesitation to present audiences with new and challenging work.

National Sawdust

Keb’s Quest for Consonance

“The double bass, to Keb, is an extension of themself. It is a vehicle of their expression and voice.”

The Boston Musical Intelligencer

Batting 1000 for First Weekend

“Wonderfully resonant tone.”

Classcial Voice North Carolina

Wilmington Symphony Orchestra Finishes Season in Fine Fashion

“Charles walked onto the stage, took [their] soloist position, and displayed a presence that let the audience know we were in capable hands.”

Symphony Magazine

Kickstarting a Career

“tak[es] forms like the concerto grosso and sonata and bring[es] them into the twenty-first century”

The Boston Musical Intelligencer

BPYO Rewards Grateful Community

“Charles exude[s] personality and verve”

Your Classical

Aspen student profile: Kebra-Seyoun Charles

“The sounds and rhythms of Kebra-Seyoun Charles' bass should be with us for years to come.”

Performance Today

“The sounds and rhythms of Kebra-Seyoun Charles' bass should be with us for years to come”