Praised for his “brilliant and compelling” programming, JMU faculty bassist Sam Suggs and friends—including cellist and founder of Forward Music Project, Amanda Gookin—will perform sonorous original works for double bass and cello. They will also give the revival of Dragonetti’s celebrated transcription of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata for double bass.

Sam Suggs is the first solo bassist in 36 years to join the Concert Artists Guild roster, and was recently recognized with an award for “Extraordinary Creativity” at the 2017 Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Competition. Applauded by The Strad for his “brilliant and compelling programming,” Suggs performed many original works to win 1st place at the 2015 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition. He was named “New Artist of the Month” in October 2015. As a collaborator, Suggs has performed at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and with the Argus Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, and Frisson Ensemble (composer-in-residence). A native of Buffalo, New York, and doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Music, Suggs is on faculty at JMU, the Heifetz Institute, Peabody Bass Works, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and the Summer Performing Arts with Juilliard Strings Program in Shanghai.