This is the first time that we are leading off in a newsletter feature with an artist who is not an accordion player. However, it is such an exceptional confluence of fortunes that Leah Zeger will be performing this year with Cory Pesaturo, that it behooves us to bring our good luck to the attention of all.
Cory is America’s greatest jazz accordionist and a valued member of our team. We become a major production in the accordion world just by having Cory on our stage. Yet Cory matching up with Leah produces a dynamic stage show that any duo would have a hard time matching, no matter what the genre.
Leah is a violinist, but that is only a small part of the story. She started out as the youngest member to win a tenured position in the Austin Symphony Orchestra. From that standing, she found herself playing with Eric Clapton at the Crossroads Festival in 2007 and then went on to play duets with Charlie Daniels.
One would be hard-pressed to find a violinist as versatile as Leah. She went on to join the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, has performed as a soloist with Miley Cyrus, and performed with Ariana Grande at the Grammys. Just recently, she sent out a notice for us to watch the Grand Finale of American Idol. On that stage, I saw her performing with Alicia Keys, and then she jumped from there to playing with Luke Bryan and his band.
I think it’s safe to say that there is not a genre she cannot play, and that the very best want her to play with them. The best like to play with the best, and it is our reward that it all will be happening at the festival this year in Cotati.
Cory Pesaturo loves playing with Leah. He holds her violin playing in the highest respect, but he also points out that her voice is one of the very finest he has ever encountered. I have seen the two of them play together once before, and it is a soaring experience — a duet to remember, a show for the ages in itself.
