Ohio Wesleyan Performing Arts Series to Feature the Rose Ensemble
The Rose Ensemble will perform Feb. 3 at Ohio Wesleyan University. (Photo by Michael Haug Photography)
The critically acclaimed Rose Ensemble continues Ohio Wesleyan University’s 2011-2012 Performing Arts Series with “Land of Three Faiths: Voices of Ancient Mediterranean Jews, Christians, and Muslims,” an early vocal music performance at 8 p.m. Feb. 3 in Gray Chapel inside University Hall, 61 S Sandusky St.
According to the St. Paul, Minn.-based vocal ensemble: “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.”
In reviewing “Land of Three Faiths,” the Ames (Iowa) Life & Times reported: “This program wasn’t a performance. It was more like a resurrection. The Rose Ensemble breathes life into stark, ancient manuscripts … restores them as new creations.”
Founded in 1996, The Rose Ensemble has released nine recordings and created a repertoire of music spanning 1,000 years and more than 25 languages. Learn more about the ensemble at www.roseensemble.org. This Ohio Wesleyan Performing Arts Series event is co-sponsored with the OWU Department of Religion.
This year’s Performing Arts Series will conclude at 8 p.m. Feb. 10, when Emmy award-winning actor Anthony Zerbe presents “It’s All Done with Mirrors,” featuring the poetry of E.E. Cummings.
Zerbe’s one-man show has been described as “an avalanche of colorful characters and dazzling word play.” Movie fans will recognize the versatile actor from film credits including “The Matrix Reloaded” and “Matrix Revolutions,” “Star Trek Insurrection,” and “True Crimes.”
Zerbe will perform in OWU’s Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave. Learn more about the actor and “It’s All Done with Mirrors” at www.poetinmo.com/done_with_mirrors.html.
Tickets for all Ohio Wesleyan Performing Arts Series events are $20 for general admission; $5 for non-OWU students and senior citizens; and free for OWU students and employees. Tickets may be reserved by emailing paseries@owu.edu, visiting the website pas.owu.edu, or calling (740) 368-3629.
Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 47 states and 57 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2010 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.