April Showers have begun to fall and the lawn is developing this beautiful emerald color, trees are beginning to pop and the buds on my daffodils are swelling. I’m hoping this year that they will actually bloom. Last Spring was not kind – we had a warm spell and then a freeze – darn near [...]
All in the course of one week! Last weekend I had the pleasure of working with The Rose Ensemble as we did a residency at the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. This residency consisted of participating in a conference in which we shared our music of Three Faiths – Christianity, Judaism and Muslim. We have [...]
There are just some concerts that are worth the time to write about and this is one of them. Not, it wasn’t a classical or early music concert. In fact, this was a jazz concert that I had the extreme luck to attend last night with my husband. The group was the everlasting Manhattan Transfer. [...]
That’s what we have in store for you on February 27-28, and March 1st. Join The Rose Ensemble as we welcome our friends, Voces8 from London as we join forces to sing some of the most beautiful English Renaissance music ever written. Tickets are available at The Rose Ensemble’s website, www.RoseEnsemble.org
And Shaker songs like “Harps of Welcome,” “Give Good Gifts” and “Pretty Home” were familiar to these ears from visits to the Pleasant Hill colony near Lexington, which is now a Kentucky historic site. Indeed, “Pretty Home,” which was sung by the ensemble’s engagingly robust alto, Lisa Drew, included the rhythmicfoot stomping that sounded like thunder when heard years ago in Pleasant Hill’s bare-floored meeting hall. To these ears, it was a journey to a beloved time and distant place.
For these concerts, the Rose Ensemble numbers 11 singers and a small battery of instrumentalists, some of the latter performing on old instruments like viola da gamba and baroque guitar. The vocalists are the soul of the group, with clear, young-sounding voices that seem infinitely flexible and perfectly blended.
It’s always nice to have an upcoming concert sighted as being a Spotlight for the weekend. Here’s what the Minneapolis Star Tribune has to say about The Rose Ensemble’s upcoming concerts this weekend: Click to listen to some mp3 song samples from this upcoming show. Spotlight:Rose Ensemble season opener Classical music spotlight: the Rose Ensemble [...]
The last of the summer European tours is behind us. The Rose Ensemble headed out to Paris and Tours for a whirlwind 4 days in France with 2 concerts in different cities. We had a blast. The first concert, part of the Festival d’Ile de France, was in an ancient cathedral (not surprising) in the [...]
Well, our last European tour of the summer is rapidly approaching. On September 12th The Rose Ensemble will board a plane and fly to Paris where we have been invited to perform our Hawaiian program at the Festival d’Ile de France in the Eglise Saint-Mathurin de Larchant on Sunday, September 14th. The Festival d’Ile de [...]
I know, that’s really an Iowa State Fair verse, but we’re neighbors and I was just there! The Minnesota State Fair is in full swing with practically everything available on a stick that you can think of to Seed Art to Butter Heads. I’m going on Monday, Labor Day, with my good friend Brenda. You [...]
A wonderful three weeks in France has come and gone and we have so many great memories from this tour. It’s hard to describe the experience of singing music written for churches of the medieval period when you sing them in the buildings they were designed for. These buildings have amazing natural acoustics, something that [...]
This is just stunning. After an 8 hour drive from Autun thru ever changing landscape and vast vineyards and a brief stop in Cluny, we reached the ancient city of Vaison la Romaine. Taken over from the Celts by the Romans in the 2 BC, the city is one of 2 parts. The old medieval [...]
It’s Wednesday, and that means Market Day in Autun. After coffee with my friend Ginna, I wandered over to see what was for sale. Every Wednesday and Friday until about 1pm lots of vendors displaying their (uhm) wares. You can find everything from cheap jewelry to shoes to clothing and even French underwear. Yes, brassieres [...]
Your recent comments