Aby Wolf, Pete James Johnson, Kavyesh Kaviraj, and Laurels String Quartet photo by Erik Johnson

Sarah Larsson, Rada Kolarova, and Kat Parent will sing original and traditional songs rooted in Eastern European folk vocal harmonies, accompanied by clarinetist Pat O’Keefe and cellist Jacqueline Ultan, as Red Thread. Vocalist Aby Wolf, pianist Kavyesh Kaviraj, and drummer Pete James Johnson will anchor a collaborative set of originals and select covers arranged by Johnson and Kaviraj for the Twin Cities’ own Laurels String Quartet.

Red Thread is a harmony-focused ensemble playing traditional and original tunes rooted in Eastern European, Yiddish, Irish, and Americana traditions. Vocalists Sarah Larsson, Rada Kolarova, and Kat Parent; clarinetist Pat O’Keefe; and cellist Jacqueline Ultan infuse their interpretations of traditional music with a harmonic approach established in and liberated from classical choral singing. The music of Red Thread blends percussion and folk elements with an alternative-folk sensibility tied tightly to the Upper Midwest’s new music scene.

Frontwoman Sarah Larsson is known for interpreting traditional music from Eastern Europe as part of the Nightingale Trio, which appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion'' and has been called “a revelation” by MPR Classical’s Steve Staruch. Drawing from years of study with master-artists in Transylvania, Bulgaria, Ireland, Serbia, and the United States—and with teachers including Ethel Raim, Michael Alpert, Irina Ivorciuc, Bojana Djordjevic, and Dáithí Sproule—Red Thread unspools the line of folk tradition, merging rich vocal harmony with the stories of real people’s lived experience embedded within folk songs.

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Aby Wolf is a Twin Cities–based vocalist, music maker, and passionate collaborator with an elastic skillset. Whether she is writing vocal arrangements; fulfilling commissions; or performing in clubs, theaters, and schools from Brainerd to Bratislava to Beijing, Aby brings a palpable element of joy to her endeavors. A lifelong learner with ever-expanding curiosity, Aby has a sound distinguished not by the typical markers of genre or instrumentation, but by her impressive range of expression and experimentation.

Having collaborated with some of Minnesota’s most esteemed musicians, Kavyesh Kaviraj has solidified himself as one of the most sought-after composers, arrangers and pianists in the Twin Cities. Taking influences from his birthplace of Oman, his rich Indian heritage, and the place he now calls home, the St. Paul virtuoso uses his astounding ability to craft compelling musical narrative. For the past seven years, Kavyesh has channelled his most transformative experiences and lessons from his heart to the piano through the language of jazz.

Pete James Johnson is a drummer, composer and educator in the Twin Cities—most often seen playing jazz and improvised music but at home in a variety of musical worlds. He has performed with local artists such as the Zacc Harris Group, Bryan Nichols, Javier Santiago, Omar Abdulkarim, Dosh, Michael Cain, Chris Bates’ Red 5, Will Kjeer, Andrew Walesch, Nooky Jones, Adam Meckler, Aaron Hedenstrom, JazzMN Orchestra, Twin Cities Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Adam Bohanan. Pete has also performed with international artists such as the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Alan Broadbent, Russ Ferrante, Alan Pasqua, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Bob Sheppard. As an educator, Pete has taught at The College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University, the University of Minnesota Morris, Hamline University, and the University of Southern California, and he has served as a clinician and guest artist at several jazz festivals around the Midwest. Pete’s primary instructors included Peter Erskine (Weather Report, Steely Dan), Ndugu Chancler (Miles Davis, Michael Jackson), Bill Platt (Cincinnati Symphony), and National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridson.

After a chance meeting over a decade ago, Laurels String Quartet fell into being and quickly became a staple of the Minneapolis music scene. Their collective instinct for tuning into the emotional frequency of a song has amassed the group collaborators near and far. Artists including Belle and Sebastian, Father John Misty, Lucius, Jeremy Messersmith, Macklemore, Jason Mraz, Rogue Valley, Motion City Soundtrack, the New Standards, Ondara, and Semisonic have sought their company on stage and in the studio. The quartet has appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman,” PBS, The Current, and NPR and has performed on stages across the country, from the celebrated outdoor festival Rock The Garden at the Walker Art Center, to the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, NY, to the legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis.