Performing Arts Series
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One World Tribe
Monday, August 30, 2010
Concert 6:30 pm
"From reggae to soul, jazz to salsa to African pop, they cover styles like water covers the globe"
~Dave Richards, Erie Daily Times.
With members hailing from Africa, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, One World Tribe is a truly multicultural ensemble. One World Tribe utilizes Afro-beat, funk, reggae, Latin and world beat orchestra with a myriad of musicians, dancers, and extra's. One World Tribe was created with the premise of bringing together musicians of various racial and ethnic backgrounds in order to break down social and racial barriers.
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NewFound Road
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Concert 7:30 pm
"...NewFound Road is a revelation - an innovative template of how bluegrass can remain thrilling and relevant by fusing the best of the past to a clear vision of what is essential today."
~ Raleigh News & Observer
One of the most exciting new bands to emerge on the national bluegrass scene in the new millennium, NewFound Road specializes in a powerfully streamlined sound delivered with heartfelt honesty and passion. The bands' three equally capable, yet distinct vocalists, who are also formidable instrumentalists and songwriters, ensure that each song is executed with both emotion and precision- be it a bluesy solo vocal, soaring three part harmony or a solemn a capella gospel treatment. Instrumentally, NewFound Road is a role model for the modern self-contained bluegrass ensemble, providing both sympathetic accompaniment and thrilling, hard-driving solos. NewFound Road is contemporary bluegrass at its most soulful and sincere.
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Borealis Wind Quintet
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Concert 7:30 pm
The Borealis Wind Quintet is first rate...gentle and agile...boisterous or loving. The whole recording is the stuff dreams are made of.
~ Musical Heritage Review
The Borealis Wind Quintet, nominated for a 2006 Grammy Award in the Chamber Music Category, is acclaimed as one of America's preeminent chamber ensembles. The highest musical integrity, irresistible energy and five-fold charisma distinguish Borealis in the chamber music field. Audiences love their exquisite programming that includes the finest of the classics, engaging commissioned works, opera arias and works for piano and winds. The Washington Post praised their "sensitive collaborations that have a sophisticated and cosmopolitan air." The New York Times described one concert as "a polished, elegantly turned performance... each work received lively, expert and musicianly treatment by this skilled and exceptionally talented chamber group."
The Borealis Wind Quintet has received accolades for their finesse and style. Their remarkable ensemble playing is a result of a long musical collaboration focused not only on detail and precision, but also on carefully conceived musical interpretations.
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Sachal Vasandani
Monday, December 6, 2010
Concert 7:30 pm
“My music always starts off with jazz, but can end up in any number of places because of all my different influences. I guess I value the freedom to explore as much as the discipline of tradition.”
~Sachal Vasandani
"This man is really amazing!" With a "golden voice" and an ability to execute complex ideas with subtlety and nuance, "amazing" echoes the general reaction to Sachal Vasandani, a major new talent on the music scene. "Sachal Vasandani's singing reveals emotion and intellect," says Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. "Versed in the blues, standards, and modern jazz... his sound is consistent and unique.”
With a flair for infusing the familiar with a fresh, original sensibility entirely his own, Vasandani has an ability to write songs of a diverse and popular style. He has captured the attention of the jazz world over the past few years and is quickly climbing towards the top of the music scene. Vasandani's youthful energy and appeal is ultimately attractive to audiences of all ages and musical preferences.
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Visual Expressions
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Performance 7:30 pm
Visual Expressions approaches dramatic visual expression by using a multifaceted blend of Chinese and Western puppet art with dance, music, masks and lighting to create beyond definition theatrical performing art.
Hua Hua Zhang's Visual Expressions is committed to using Chinese puppet art to explore universal themes and ideas through visual cross-cultural expression, using theatrical performances and educational programs.
Hua Hua was the lead performer for the Beijing Puppet Arts Troupe for more than 20 years, and was distinguished with numerous awards while performing around the world with the Troupe. In 1996, Hua Hua moved to America to study, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Puppet Arts from the prestigious Puppet Art Program in the Department of Dramatic Arts of the University of Connecticut.
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Step Afrika!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Performance 7:30 pm
“Electrifying talents”
~The Washington Post
Like a band without instruments, stepping is a percussive dance that uses kicks, stomps, claps and chants to create visually and musically exciting rhythms. As the world's first professional company devoted to stepping, Washington, DC's critically acclaimed Step Afrika! brings high energy performance to the stage: a feast for both the eyes and ears. The company is critically acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the tradition's use as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika! reaches tens of thousands of American's each year and has performed on prestigious stages all across the North and South America as well as in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Step Afrika! has performed at the White House twice and has also appeared on ABC News, PBS, BET, and CNN.
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Road to the Isles
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Concert 7:30 p.m.
“A delightfully engaging program, beautifully presented, and extremely well–received by the capacity audience.”
~ Sandra Billy, Artistic Director, Virginia Wesleyan College, Norfolk, Virginia
Drawing from a wealth of experience and study, Road to the Isles performs the instrumental music, dance, and folksong traditions of Ireland and Scotland. Comprising five talented performers representing years of experience in their respective fields, Road to the Isles will take you on a journey to the lochs and glens of the Celtic lands of old. Their performances include the sword dance, highland fling, sean triubhas, Irish reel and jig, slip jig, and hornpipe, complemented by songs, stories, and instrumental solos, duets, and trios. The ensemble portrays a unique view of the similarities and differences between the music and dance traditions of these fascinating and ancient cultures.
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