The West Stockbridge Historical Society is proud to have been one of the co-presenters of Felipe Salles’s The New Immigrant Experience in 2023 with the Berkshire Immigrant Center and Berkshire Theatre Group at the Colonial Theatre and is delighted to welcome him to Old Town Hall with his quartet to perform music from his new album Camera Obscura.

A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Felipe Salles has been an active musician in the US since 1995, where he has worked and recorded with prominent jazz artists, including Randy Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera and Jerry Bergonzi. He has toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, India, and Australia, as a sideman and as a leader of his own group.

Salles is a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Composition Fellow, a 2021 South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant Fellowship recipient, a 2015 and 2023 NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant winner. These are just a few of his many awards.

Salles has a Master’s and a Graduate Diploma in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory, and a Doctorate in Jazz Arts Advancement from Manhattan School of Music. He is a Professor of Jazz and African American Music Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he has taught since 2010.

The Felipe Salles Quartet includes Salles playing saxes and flutes, Nando Michelin, keyboard, Keala Kaumeheiwa, bass, Bertram Lehman, drums. This concert features quartet versions of Salles’ 12th album, Camera Obscura to be released on June 6. Salles was inspired by the camera obscura concept in creating this music which blends jazz and chamber music. “All of the tunes on the album come from a variety of different perspectives and play with the contrast between light and darkness.”