Mending and Melding with Steph Davis

Thursday October 23rd at 6:00 PM

St. Augustine African Orthodox Christian Church

Featuring marimbist, gyil player, Africana studies scholar, and cultural activist Steph Davis, BPQ’s diverse performance of African American spirituals and new compositions will be unforgettable.

The performance will also feature the World Premiere of Melding and Mending by Melika M Fitzhugh . This special piece was comissioned by the Boston Public Quartet and Steph Davis. Don't miss out on this landmark event!

Steph Davis

Steph Davis is a marimbist, gyil player, Africana studies scholar, and cultural activist. Grounded in the culture and sounds of the African diaspora, Davis’ performances can be described as sonic portraits of Black lineage, love, resilience, hope, grief, and truth. Their anthropological approach to programming explores Black historiographies and uses music to inspire truth-telling and collective liberation.

Hailed by The Washington Post as a "crisp, controlled" performer who brings "bright humanity and expressive depth" to contemporary music, Davis has performed hundreds of concerts as a marimba soloist and chamber musician. Encompasing original arrangements of spirituals, traditional West African gyil music, and Western classical and contemporary music, Davis’ performances push the boundaries of genre while centering African-descended people and cultures. Through their arrangements, commissions, and compositions, they have contributed over 30 works by Black composers to the marimba's solo and chamber repertoire. Recent highlights include solo concerts presented by Celebrity Series of Boston and Ashmont Hill Chamber Music and interdisciplinary collaborations with dancers, poets, and playwrites. Their current projects include recording their debut solo marimba album and publishing an anthology of marimba adaptations, arrangements, and transcriptions of music from the African diaspora. Davis proudly endorses Marimba One instruments and mallets as a Marimba One Premier Artist.

​As a composer, Davis' work seeks to express sounds from the other world, the liberated world. Their music often finds pathways of expression in cyclical forms, layered parts, sonic density, water-like textures, and traditional African American music. Their music has been performed in Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. They have received commissions from New Works Project, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Spectrum Ensemble, Prism Percussion, Modern Marimba, Britton-René Collins, Michael Ptacin, and Cameron Denby.

Who We Are

Ampifly-Inspire-Connect

The Boston Public Quartet (BPQ) enters its 19th season with a continued commitment to excellence in performance, community connection, and artistic innovation. Founded in 2007 by violinist Betsy Hinkle, BPQ was created to connect, inspire, and amplify voices historically excluded from classical music. The ensemble—now a flexible piano quintet—performs across the U.S. in spaces ranging from neighborhood street corners to national venues like the Kennedy Center, and brings chamber music to communities with limited access to the arts.

BPQ’s mission is rooted in “normalizing the amplification of historically excluded voices”—including the musicians on stage, the composers they feature, the students they teach, and the audiences they engage. Members Betsy Hinkle (violin), Grant Houston (violin), Jason Amos (viola), Nicholas Johnson (cello), and Joy Cline Phinney (piano) are graduates of institutions including Juilliard, New England Conservatory, and the University of Michigan. Collectively, they’ve performed with ensembles such as the Boston Ballet, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Sphinx Symphony, and Castle of Our Skins.

BPQ continues to collaborate across disciplines—partnering with visual artists, dancers, and composers—and remains committed to presenting meaningful, inclusive performances that resonate with diverse communities.

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This program is supported in part by a grant from Cambridge Arts, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency