Charles Overton Quartet

PCMF’s 30th anniversary summer season expands with the Portland debut of the Charles Overton Quartet, a fascinating ensemble with the unusual instrumentation of concert grand harp, tenor saxophone, bass, and drums. The quartet will perform an evening of original tunes and jazz standards co-presented by the multi-disciplinary arts center SPACE.

Virtuoso harpist Charles Overton creates a musical environment that is accessible, exciting, and can resonate deeply with any audience, regardless of the style or genre of music, exploring the seemingly disparate parts of his musical life — western classical music and improvised jazz/R&B — and finding the spaces where they overlap. A native of Glen Allen, Virginia, Charles was the first harpist to be accepted to the Berklee College of Music’s Global Jazz Institute, a prestigious and highly specialized program headed by world-renowned artistic director, pianist, and UNESCO Artist for Peace Danilo Perez. As a classical musician, Charles appears frequently with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with Boston-based ensembles the Walden Chamber Players, and Collage New Music, as well as at the Marlboro Music Festival.