All concerts are at 8:00 pm in the Calvin Fine Arts Center

Friday, October 6, 2006The Academy of St. Martin in
the Fields Chamber Ensemble

Founded in 1967, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was created to perform the larger chamber works, from quintets to octets. Kenneth Sillito has been Artistic Director of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and leader of the Chamber Ensemble since 1980. The Chamber Ensemble performs annually in France, Germany, and Spain, and frequently tours North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan. The ensemble has released more than 30 CDs on such labels as Philips Classics, Hyperion, and Chandos. On a recent tour, the Houston Chronicle reveled in the Chamber Ensemble’s “superb, gentle, deeply expressive, tonally lustrous” performance, and the Salt Lake City Desert Morning News reported that their playing was “exquisite… cohesive, seamless and, above all, delightfully expressive and vivid.”

Violin Masterclass — Friday, October 6, 2006
led by violinists Martin Burgess and Jan Schmolck from the Academy of St. Martin in the Field Chamber Ensemble.

Friday, October 27, 2006The Nathaniel Dett Chorale

The first professional choral group in Canada dedicated to Afro-centric music of all styles, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale consists of 21 classically trained vocalists. The Chorale has performed with internationally recognized artists in almost every genre from jazz to opera. Its goal is to include all styles and genres of music in its repertoire appropriate to the African Diaspora, past, present, and future, and to introduce and educate audiences to the breadth and depth of that body of work. The Chorale was founded by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor in 1998 and named for internationally renowned African-Canadian composer, R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943). Dett devoted himself to the cause of historically Black music, winning the Bowdoin and Frances Boott prizes in 1920 from Harvard University. Known for its jubilant and uplifting repertoire, the Chorale garnered international attention at Polyfollia 2004 in France and the Seventh World Symposium on Choral Music in Japan in 2005.

Lecture: The Music of the African Diaspora — Friday, October 27, 2006
led by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, conductor of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale

Saturday, February 17, 2007MOMIX “Opus Cactus”

To experience a MOMIX performance is to immerse oneself in a mystical visual feast for the eyes. Opus Cactus celebrates the beauty of the Sonoran desert of Arizona, featuring 19 inspirational scenes performed by dancer-illusionists. From firewalker to flower to dream catcher, the other-worldly flora and fauna of the southwestern desert come to life before one’s eyes as the artists morph from one scene to the next. Their extraordinary imagery is conjured up in dance with the mystical interplay of light and music. The company has performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as Europe, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean, Ireland, South America, Asia, and Australia. Artistic Director/Choreographer, Moses Pendleton, is one of America’s most innovative and widely-performed choreographers and directors. Integrating classical dance, gymnastics and ballet, Opus Cactus promises to delight people of all ages with a mesmerizing whirlwind of movement.

Friday, March 2, 2007The Borealis Wind Quintet

Formed at the famous Julliard School of Music in 1976, the Borealis Wind Quintet has gained a reputation for finesse and style as well as carefully conceived musical interpretations. A 2006 Grammy Award Nominee for Best Classical Chamber Music Performance for A La Carte, the quintet has won numerous other awards, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America. The Quintet has performed throughout the United States at Carnegie Hall, the Frick Museums in New York City and Pittsburgh, and Wolf Trap in Virginia. In conjunction with their performances, the ensemble presents educational programs and has performed at schools across the country, including Princeton, Yale, Notre Dame, and Brown. A frequent performer at prestigious series such as the Four Seasons in Berkeley, Strathmore in Baltimore, the Corning Glass Museum in NY and Sun City in Arizona, the quintet is also in residence at the Newport Music Festival, Bucknell and in Ellsworth, Maine.

Wind Workshop — Friday, March 2, 2007
led by the Borealis Wind Quintet

Thursday, April 19, 2007Angela Hewitt, piano
— in partnership with the Grand Rapids Bach Festival

This concert marks another exciting community collaboration — this time with the Grand Rapids Bach Festival. Angela Hewitt began her piano studies at three years of age, performed in public at age four, and a year later won her first scholarship. When she was nine she gave her first recital at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. Ms. Hewitt studied with French pianist, Jean-Paul Sévilla, at the University of Ottawa. She has won a host of awards, including the International Bach Competitions of Leipzig, Toronto and Washington, D.C. and the Schumann Competition in Zwickau. Her repertoire ranges from Couperin to the contemporary, but she is considered to be “the preeminent Bach pianist of our time” (The Guardian) and “nothing less than the pianist who will define Bach performance on the piano for years to come” (Stereophile). She has performed on nearly every continent. Recently, Ms. Hewitt premiered Dominic Muldowney’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, made her debut in the Concertgebouw, toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Bulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and the Edinburgh Festival.

Piano Masterclass — Wednesday, April 18, 2007
led by Angela Hewitt

All concerts are at 8:00 p.m. in the Calvin Fine Arts Center.
Each includes an educational outreach.

For additional information call: (616) 526-6800