For an unprecedented return engagement, The Rose Ensemble has been invited back to participate in the “La Fabbrica del Canto”, an international choral festival that takes place in and around the Milan region of Northern Italy. The following blurb was published in an Italian paper this past week:
“The Rose Ensemble dal Minnesota, Usa (torna quest’anno a grande richiesta dopo l’acclamato successo dello scorso anno)” – translation: “The Rose Ensemble from Minnesota, use back this year in great demand after the acclaimed success of last year”
We will be presenting 2 separate programs, one sacred highlighting our Slavic show of Russian, Polish & Czech music and music of St. Francis of Assisi, and one secular program featuring music from our Hawaiian and Early American programs. All of the choirs will perform two 20 minute highlight shows for the general public on two separate evenings at the beginning of the Festival. This allows the audience to see what the choirs sound like and choose what programs they would like to see. All concerts are free and begin at 9pm every evening during the run.
The nice thing about returning to a festival is that you have a really good idea of what to expect. We already know
that concerts will generally start around the 9:30ish time (we start when the people come!), we have great friends that we will meet up with, and we have a good idea of where to eat! I seem to remember this great little gelato place on the plaza…
Speaking of meeting up with great friends, the vocal group Voces8 from London will be performing with us this year. We had a wonderful time with them when they sang with us in Minnesota and we’re looking forward to repeating the experience in Italy.
Three of our members left today for early rehearsal and the rest of the group will leave Thursday with arrival on Friday morning. Our first concert will be Saturday, so we have a little rest before we begin the marathon. Look for 
posts from Italy as well as photos. Oh, rumor has it that a certain little ‘Piggy’ might be stowing away in my suitcase…
Stay in touch and drop me a line – I would love to hear from you!
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