Internationally-acclaimed vocal group The Rose Ensemble will perform in concert on Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m. in the Carleton College Skinner Memorial Chapel. Entitled “Voices of Ancient Mediterranean Christians, Jews, and Muslims,” the concert is free and open to the public.
Centuries of dedication and folklore in the chapels, synagogues and courts of early Italy, Spain, and Portugal produced music with rhythms that reverberated across the Mediterranean. In this program spanning four centuries of vocal and instrumental music, a diverse collection of Arab-Andalusian dances, Sephardic laments, Spanish villancicos, Hebrew chants, and Galician spiritual cantigas come together in a fascinating exploration of language, culture, and faith from a time that is not so different from our own.
Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, and renowned around the world, The Rose Ensemble reawakens the ancient through imaginative performances of vocal music, connecting each individual to past worlds with stories of spirituality and humanity. Performing a repertoire spanning 1000 years and over 25 languages, The Rose Ensemble’s concerts preserve and perpetuate centuries of human expression with historical instruments and a vocal sound that critics have called “supernatural.”
The Rose Ensemble is the recipient of the 2005 Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and a first-place winner in the sacred music category at the 2007 Tolosa International Choral Competition in Spain. They can be regularly heard on American Public Media and the European Broadcasting Union, and have been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today.”
The Rose Ensemble’s numerous recordings include “Il Poverello: Medieval & Renaissance Music for St. Francis of Assisi,” “And Glory Shone Around: Early American Carols,” “Country Dances, Southern Harmony Hymns and Shaker Spiritual Songs,” “Nā Mele Hawai'i: A Rediscovery of Hawaiian Vocal Music,” and “Rosa das Rosas: Cantigas de Santa Maria & Other Spiritual Songs for the Virgin.”
This event is sponsored by the Department of Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Department of Middle Eastern Languages, with additional support from Viz (Visualizing the Liberal Arts), a Carleton College initiative funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Skinner Memorial Chapel is located on First Street between College and Winona Streets in Northfield. For more information or disability accommodations, contact Bill North at wnorth@carleton.edu.