Wandr'ing Minstrels -                                    The all-purpose Gilbert & Sullivan Ensemble October 27, 2007
Saturday, 8:00 pm

Don’t expect this light-hearted group to stand still and sing! But you can expect to hear great voices, skilled in the G&S style, presenting satirical, sentimental, and rousing Gilbert & Sullivan favorites with style and flair. Costume elements, props and choreography provide the visual pop which turns each event into a celebration, with the camaraderie and spontaneous banter of the Wand’ring Minstrels adding an extra measure of froth to the proceedings!

Each of the Wand’ring Minstrels is a leading performer from the acclaimed New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players company with a long list of G&S roles in repertory. This provides the flexibility to perform varying programs and the ability to rise to the challenge of surprise requests from the audience, a tour-de-force featured segment in most programs of this lively ensemble.

Leading the group is Artistic Director Albert Bergeret who has been hailed as “The leading custodian of the G&S classics” (New York Magazine). He brings a fresh perspective to the classic works of G&S, imbuing them with a contemporary wit and high musical values while staying true to the creators’ original intent.

                                                                            MOSCOW NIGHTS & Golden Gates
January 18, 2008 
Friday, 8:00 pm

School outreach, January 18, 2008.

Award Winning Folk Ensemble From Russia
Moscow Nights is an exciting, versatile trio of
world recognized, prize-winning musicians
from Russia. In a little over two years and with
two CD's and one video available, the ensemble,
now based in Cleveland, Ohio, has already
established themselves as one of the fastest
rising folk groups in the United States. These classically trained artists first took Western Europe by storm and now have brought their dazzling,toe-tapping music to North America. The repertoire is centered on masterpieces of Russian folklore and represents the diversity of the culture, ranging from gently humorous songs, to elaborate lyrical outwardly reserved and cool but brimming with vigor, mischievousness and vibrancy inside.The concerts have the air of a spontaneous impromptu performance, a coming together to make music, which is one of the hallmarks of folk music. But don't be fooled by the apparent ease these musicians work hard, researching, rehearsing, and arranging behind the scenes to preserve the rich traditions of a culture that was almost lost. The result is a carefully crafted music, which honors the past but which, like life, moves on and develops. The old folk melodies are respected and treated as the raw material for quality musical performances.

Moscow Night's lively program presents an authentic picture of Russian folk traditions and culture. Lilting Balalaikas, dynamic Bayan Accordion, unique Treshotky & Loshky, humorous Dances, and superb Vocals combine for an exhilarating and educational performance for audiences of all ages!

                                                                     RED, HOT, & BLUE
February 16, 2008
Saturday, 8:00 pm

"Red, Hot...& Blue!," the hit song and dance
revue from Branson, Missouri, which, for more
than ten years, has played at the Ain't
Misbehavin' Supper Club and other venues,
will be embarking on its fifth coast-to-coast
tour during the 2007-2008 season.  This
six-performer troupe takes audiences on a
nostalgic musical journey through the decades:
from the Raucous Ragtime Era to the Roaring
20's, from the Classic Jazz Era of the 1930's
to the Swingin' Sounds of the 40's and the
Big Band Era, and from the Hilarious 50's to
the Rockin' 60's and Disco 70's.

With fabulous, award-winning costumes,
hilarious wigs, quick-moving choreography, and precise vocal harmonies (yes, they do sing everything LIVE!), this high energy show is sure to appeal to audiences of all ages.

                                                                          JUPITER STRING QUARTET
April 5, 2008
Saturday, 8:00 pm

School outreach, April 4, 2008.

The JUPITER STRING QUARTET has been
selected to join Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music
Society Two for a two-year residency beginning
in 2007-2008.  The Quartet captured First Prize
in the 8th Banff International String Quartet
Competition in 2004, as well as the Szekely
Prize for the best performance of a Beethoven
quartet.  The Quartet was also awarded Grand
Prize at the 2004 Fischoff National Chamber
Music Competition.  Adding to their long list of
prizes, the Quartet has just been awarded the
2006 Austin Critics Table Award for
Outstanding Chamber Music Performance.

This season, the Jupiter String Quartet appears
at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in
Boston, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the San Antonio Chamber Music Society,
Princeton University, UC San Diego, the Evergreen House Foundation (MD), the Washington Performing Arts Society, Kansas State University, Mary Baldwin College (VA), the Krannert Center (IL), the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (AL), Chamber Music Albuquerque, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY), New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, and in Stanford’s “Lively Arts” series, among others.     

Winners of the 2005 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Quartet was also
awarded the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Prize, which sponsored their debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, the Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, the La Jolla Music Society Prize, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Prize, and the Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center Prize.  The Quartet holds YCA’s Helen F. Whitaker Chamber Music Chair. 

The Quartet has performed at such venues as New York’s Lincoln Center, Boston’s Jordan Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall and has been enthusiastically received at major music festivals including the Aspen Music Festival, the Caramoor International Music Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Honest Brook Music Festival, the Tuckamore Festival, and the Yellow Barn Music Festival.  They have collaborated with such artists as Roger Tapping, James Buswell, Paul Katz,
Yong Hi Moon, and the Miami String Quartet.  They have been heard on NPR’s Performance
Today, on Chicago’s classical station, WFMT 98.7, and on WQXR in New York.

The Jupiter String Quartet places a strong emphasis on developing relationships with future classical music audiences through outreach work in the school system and educational performances.  They also enjoy working with aspiring chamber musicians, and have served on the faculties of the chamber
music programs at the Snowmass Suzuki Institute and the Austin Chamber Music Festival.