AN EVENING WITH STEWART COPELAND AT SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL INCLUDES 17-PIECE ENSEMBLE AND PREMIERE OF ORIGINAL PIECE

Precedes jam-packed weekend with performances by three 2008 Grammy winners

Savannah, Georgia – Coming off of The Police World Tour this week, acclaimed drummer/composer Stewart Copeland prepares for the premiere of his newest composition in Savannah, enlisting the skills of violinist Daniel Hope. The March 26 program at Trustees Theater features an evening of his original compositions, most of which will be performed by Copeland and a 17-piece orchestra featuring several other world-class percussionists. An on-stage interview and audience Q&A with Copeland follows, and the program ends with a screening of his original documentary about The Police called Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out.

The middle weekend of the 2008 Savannah Music Festival (SMF) follows the Copeland event, presenting a richly diverse lineup including three different 2008 Grammy award winners, among others. Angelique Kidjo, winner of the “Best Contemporary World Music Album” Grammy, performs at the Trustees Theatre on March 29 with fado songstress Ana Moura opening. Kidjo also won an NAACP Image Award last week for that album, entitled Djin Djin. Ricky Skaggs, who plays the Johnny Mercer Theater with Bruce Hornsby on March 28, won the “Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album” Grammy for Salt of the Earth (Ricky Skaggs & the Whites). One of the world’s foremost classical pianists, Garrick Ohlsson’s album Beethoven Sonatas, Vol. 3 earned him the 2008 Grammy for “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra).” Ohlsson performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts on March 30.

Other highlights from the 2008 Savannah Music Festival’s second weekend (March 27 – 30) are Audra McDonald, the Emerson String Quartet with Daniel Hope & Friends, Red Stick Ramblers, American Traditions Competition Finals, Antonio Pitingo, Modern Skirts, Cherryholmes, Daniel Hope & Friends with Wu Han, Tiempo Libre, and Carolina Chocolate Drops.

About the Savannah Music Festival

The Savannah Music Festival is Georgia’s largest musical arts festival and one of the most distinctive cross-genre music festivals in the world. SMF is building a robust history on its devotion to living, vibrant musical traditions, regularly producing premieres, commissioned works and rare regional appearances by renowned artists in jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other styles of American and international roots music. Artists collaborate, students and master musicians intermingle, vocalists showcase their talents and communities uplift and celebrate over seventeen specially conceived days and nights. For 2008 details visit www.savannahmusicfestival.org.