Open Session with Béla Fleck & Martin Hayes

Béla Fleck and Martin Hayes are hosting an open jam session at the Harold Prince Theatre on Saturday, February 13, 2027, at 11 AM. It's a morning session where bluegrass and Irish traditions meet, and if you play a string instrument, you're invited to bring it and sit in with them. The session is aimed at intermediate to advanced players, so it's a chance to play alongside two of the tradition's defining voices rather than just watching from the seats. If you'd rather just listen, observer tickets are available for those who want to watch without playing.

Fleck, the banjo virtuoso, is the University of Pennsylvania's 26/27 season artist-in-residence. He's joined here by Irish fiddle master Martin Hayes, and guitarist Kyle Sanna rounds out the group. Hayes comes to the session after a sold-out performance last season and a pre-show talk the two held on February 12, the day before. NPR has called Hayes "one of the best fiddlers on the planet," and The Irish Times described him as having an "insatiable appetite for adventure."

The jam is part of the Americana Festival: Roots & Reinventions, a weekend that looks at the intercontinental journey of Ireland's traditional music and how it's influenced American roots traditions. It's a broad theme, and this session is one of the ways the festival lets you get close to it. Fleck is also performing the world premiere of Plain Songs, a Penn Live Arts commission for solo banjo, as part of his residency.

If you do sign up to play, you'll save 10% on other Americana Festival shows. The session starts at 11 AM on Saturday, February 13, at the Harold Prince Theatre on the University of Pennsylvania campus.