David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg Perform Concert With Shelter Island Friends of Music

Shelter Island Friends of Music continues its 2025 season with a performance by Grammy-nominated clarinetist David Krakauer and South African pianist Kathleen Tagg on Sunday, August 31 at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church.

Krakauer and Tagg will present a program of standards and original compositions. Their music, which sits at the crossroads of classical, klezmer, jazz and world music, celebrates identity, communication, and cross-cultural connection.

David Krakauer is internationally recognized as one of the most compelling clarinetists of our time, renowned for his distinctive sound and innovations in both classical and klezmer music. He has received a Grammy nomination as a soloist with a chamber orchestra, a Diapason d’Or for his work with Osvaldo Golijov and the Kronos Quartet/Nonesuch and an album of the year award in the jazz category for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Kathleen Tagg is a South African-born pianist, composer and producer whose boundary-pushing work explores identity, sound and cross-genre connection. Based in New York since 2001, she has performed on four continents in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to immersive, interdisciplinary stages. A South African Music Awards nominee and graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Tagg has developed a unique language at the piano, using loops, samples, and extended techniques to transform it into a full orchestra of sound.

Krakauer and Tagg have been collaborating since 2012. Their performances transform the clarinet and piano into an expansive sound world, Krakauer with extended techniques and circular breathing, and Tagg using the piano as a harp, drum, and more. Their projects have spanned film scores, multimedia installations, orchestral works and genre-blending performance programs.

A post-concert reception with the artists will follow the performance.

David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg will be performing at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, 32 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island, on Sunday August 31 at 6 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit sifriendsofmusic.org.