University Bluegrass Ensemble Presents Winter Concert
Murder, love, sorrow, wanderlust, loss and salvation.
The members of the Washington and Lee University Bluegrass Ensemble will explore these classic Appalachian themes as they present their winter concert of traditional and modern bluegrass songs on April 8 at 8 p.m. in Wilson Concert Hall.
The performance is free and will also be streamed online at https://go.wlu.edu/livestream. The doors to Wilson Concert Hall will open 30 minutes prior to the event.
Under new direction by 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,” said Shester. “We are excited to present this new set of bluegrass songs as we feature high lonesome har- mony singing and fast picking.”
In the Bluegrass Ensemble’s first semester fall 2025 concert, the 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,” said Shester.
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 music professor, the ensemble was reestablished in the summer of 2025. The current group of Bluegrass Ensemble students all joined in September with very short notice and only word-of-mouth recruitment upon returning to campus for fall term. Most of these musicians came into the ensemble with little to no prior experience playing bluegrass.
“With only 10 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,” said Shester.
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 economics professor) and family. Shester joined the W&L ITS department in 2016 where he has been working ever since.
Locally, area residents can see him performing with The Datz Us Ramblers and The Rockbridge Bluegrass All-Stars at many breweries, wineries, gardens and private events.
He joined 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 legacy at W&L thanks to the efforts of previous Bluegrass Ensemble directors Nate Leath and Burr Datz. They followed in the footsteps of W&L Professor Emeritus of Geology Odell McGuire, who, along with his wife, Mata, created a vibrant and worldfamous old-time music scene in the 1970s that is still talked about in old-time music circles today.
