I am excited to announce that I am now a Berklee College of music graduate!
I would love to have been able to post a photo of me dressed in a gown with a silly hat shaking hands with president Roger Brown. But- in spite of deciding to go after some friends talked me into it the ceremony the day before , and me waking up at 5:00am, dressing up in the gown and getting bussed around a stadium for 3 hours with an entire class of graduates -just before the photo op with Prez Brown could happen, I suddenly realized I double booked myself for a sunday morning gig and had to sneak out of the line and dash across town.
Oh well, the gig was much more fun. Luckily Boston was too far away for my family to attend the ceremony:)
In other news, I just returned from DC for my third ever show at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. This time for the DC Jazz Festival with the Berklee Mixed World Octet directed by the great pianist and producer Alain Mallet I had a blast working with and hanging out with some 
stellar young jazz musicians from around the world (Lithuania, Israel, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada and the US) united at Berklee in this ensemble: Mario Castro on Saxaphones, Simona Milda Jakubenaite on vocals, Eitan Kenner on Piano, Alex Baboianon guitar, Yuriana Sobrino on percussion, and Adam Arruda on Drums. The entire show is available on streaming video archive on the Kennedy Center Website: http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M4668
And speaking of presidential memorial halls, on June 17th I will be performing at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for an evening of Brazilian contemporary music by 
Caito Marcondes and Eva Gomyde this one-time-only US premiere show will also feature Tracy Silverman on violin, Renowned russian composer and violinist/violist Lev Zhurbin on Viola, Mark Summer, of the Turtle Island Quartet on Cello, Dana Leong on Trumbone and Leco Ries on Bass
For more informantiona and to order tickets, visit http://www.braziliancontemporarymusic.com/
Remember to check out the tour dates page for my full updated touring schedule. I’ll be posting summer dates soon including a west coast tour with an incredible singer songwriter, fiddle player and collector of Ancient Hebrew and Ladino songs, (among other talents) Lily Henly. Lily and I started a project last year with guitarist and composer Jordan Tice and a (so far) rotating forth-person lineup of Dominick Leslie, Tashina Clarridge and Brittany Haas.
Another special summer date I would like to announce is in the works is July 23rd at the White Horse in Black Mountain, NC. I will be presenting a show in collaboration of one of my favorite bands Free Planet Radio(http://www.freeplanetradio.com/). Eliot Wadopian, River Guerguerian and Chris Rosser are incredible musicians that I have admired and learned from growing up in Asheville, NC and I am very excited to have this opportunity to collaborate and share music with them and everyone back home.
Lots more dates are in the works with lots of different people and projects, so stay tuned! Join the mailing list to get periodic updates!
While I’m not on the road this summer, I plan to spend lots of time writing, practicing, fundraising and generally organizing for my first ever CD project as a bandleader! I am currently in the preliminary stages, and will continue to blog about my progress. So far, the studio dates are set for the fall and I am honored to be joined so far by my first-call, dream-band lineup of Nicholas Falk, Maeve Gilchrist, Joshua Hari Brozosky and more to come!
Before I sign off, I want to extend a congratulations to my long time colleague and mentor Danny Ellis for the release of his fabulous new CD entitled ‘the Space Between the Lines’. This project is a long-anticipated follow to his acclaimed ‘800 Voices‘ and features the old crew of me on fiddles, John Doyle on Bouzouki and Mandolin and Danny on everything else. This is a timeless recording with beautifully written songs you won’t want to miss!
http://www.dannyellismusic.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dannyellis4
Happy listening!
-Duncan
(www.emilyelbert.com) and the Boston Boys (www.thebostonboys.com). I am writing to you now from back home in Asheville, NC, where I returned to play a concert benefit last night to fund relief for the people of Japan as they cope with the recent tragedies in their nation. The concert was organized by and featured the brilliant Japanese-born musician and potter Akira Satake (www.Akira Satake.com). Tim O’Brien, Tony Trishka, Darrell Scott, Casy Driessen, Billy Cardine and Julia Weatherford also graciously donated their amazing talent and efforts to join us for the concert. The show was at the White Horse in Black Mountain, NC and was a smashing success.