University Bluegrass Ensemble Winter

UNIVERSITY BLUEGRASS ENSEMBLE

Wednesday, APRIL 8, 2026 AT 8 P.M.
WILSON CONCERT HALL/WILSON HALL/LENFEST CENTER

NO TICKETS ARE REQUIRED.

Website: https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/university-bluegrass-ensemble-winter
This concert will also be streamed online at https://go.wlu.edu/livestream.


Murder, love, sorrow, wanderlust, loss and salvation. The Washington and Lee University Bluegrass Ensemble explores these classic Appalachian themes as they present their Winter Concert of traditional and modern bluegrass songs. Join us for high-lonesome harmonies, fast picking and revelry in Wilson Concert Hall, April 8th at 8 p.m.

Under the new direction of Blake Shester, the set list for performance night includes Flat & Scruggs "Your Love is Like a Flower," Blue Virginia Blues," I'll Fly Away" and "I saw the Light", among others. For this concert more complex arrangements, melodies, and song forms are being played, incorporating more contemporary songs and songwriters. This includes compositions popularized by Hot Rize, The Seldom Scene, Ricky Skaggs, Larry Sparks and Tyler Childers. In addition to these contemporary songs, we will also still feature classic traditional bluegrass standards and jam favorites. We are excited to present this new set of bluegrass songs as we feature high lonesome harmony singing and fast picking.

In the Bluegrass Ensemble's first semester Fall 2025 Concert, our ensemble mostly stuck to repertoire written during the first generation of bluegrass performers and songwriters. For Winter 2026, we have continued to stretch ourselves and learn about how bluegrass has progressed and evolved over its 80 year history.

The Bluegrass Ensemble had been on hiatus since 2019, when a variety of factors led to the program being put on hold. Thanks to the efforts of Greg Parker, W&L Professor of Music, the ensemble was reestablished in the summer of 2025. Most of these musicians came into the ensemble with little to no prior experience playing bluegrass. With only ten hours of rehearsal time to learn an entirely new genre and absorb the style and nuances of traditional bluegrass music, every student has worked hard throughout the term to learn and perform an outstanding set of classic bluegrass repertoire that would make the late Bill Monroe proud.

The Bluegrass Ensemble is friendly and welcome to all musicians and vocalists regardless of their prior musical background. We hope this performance demonstrates the beauty, elegance, and universality that this form of traditional American music has to offer.

Shester has been playing bluegrass banjo since his high school sophomore year and has picked up a few other stringed instruments along the way. He graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Biology while also founding The Mad Cow String Band in his time there. After college he moved to Nashville to be closer to the acoustic bluegrass scene and was a founding member of Off the Wagon and was a mainstay at the World Famous Station Inn. During his time in Tennessee he was able to play with a wide variety of bluegrass artists that toured the surrounding region and local music venues.

In 2011, he moved to Lexington with his wife, Katie, (W&L Professor of Economics) and family. Shester joined the W&L ITS department in 2016 where he has been working ever since. In Lexington, you can see him performing with The Datz Us Ramblers and The Rockbridge Bluegrass All-Stars at many breweries, wineries, gardens and private events. When not playing music, he enjoys spending time with his family (including kids, Graham and Margaret), running a few miles every day and being a part of the Lexington community. He was honored to join the teaching faculty in the W&L Department of Music in 2025 as the Director of the Bluegrass Ensemble where he looks forward to carrying the strong legacy of bluegrass and roots music at W&L for years to come.

Bluegrass and old-time string band music have a strong foundation and legacy at W&L thanks to the efforts of previous Bluegrass Ensemble directors Nate Leath and Burr Datz. They followed in the footsteps of legendary W&L Professor Emeritus of Geology Odell McGuire, who, along with his wife, Mata, created a vibrant and world-famous old-time music scene in the 1970s that is still talked about in old-time music circles today.

Bluegrass music also has deep roots in the Lexington and Rockbridge area of Virginia, and the Bluegrass Ensemble provides an excellent opportunity to expose W&L students and the broader community to the rich musical traditions our region has to offer. We hope that this music and art form continue to inspire new generations of students, who will carry this artistic tradition forward wherever their futures take them.