AUREA ENSEMBLE TO PRESENT ANNUAL HOLIDAY CONCERT: A Magical Amalgamation of Music and Words

Aurea Ensemble will present its annual holiday concert, A Child's Christmas in Wales on Sunday, December 11, 3pm at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 50 Orchard Ave, in Providence. This heartwarming performance ushers in the season with Aurea's unparalleled elixir of music and words, weaving together the Dylan Thomas classic story with musical interludes of festive chamber music and traditional English carols. In addition to the Dylan Thomas story, the program includes poetry of Tennyson, Dickinson and Kooser, with chamber music of Britten, Handel and Clarke with traditional English carols. This concert is for all ages, an uplifting event for children and adults alike.

Aurea is delighted to welcome back acclaimed actors/spoken word Malcolm & Elizabeth Ingram, whose appeared with Aurea in 2021. The husband-and-wife team have performed in theater, television and film, both nationally and internationally. The program will also feature Chris Turner, harmonica virtuoso, who will share his unique improvisations of classic carols.

Consuelo Sherba, artistic director of Aurea Ensemble said, "We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth and Malcolm back to Providence for our annual holiday concert." She added, "Their vast experience brings such authenticity to this production, with stage credits that include the BBC, London's West End, the Royal Court and National Theatres, and in the United States, Shakespeare and Company, Lenox, MA, numerous regional theaters and even Comedy Central. Audiences can get ready for a holiday trip to another place and time!"

For more than 18-years, Aurea Ensemble's programs have attracted a loyal following, largely through word-of-mouth. The audience engages in the ensemble's joyous pursuit to investigate and invigorate the harmony of music and the spoken word. This amalgam creates concerts that become worlds unto themselves, each event a respite from the distractions and chaos in everyday life.

Aurea is committed to arts access for all and is, therefore, offering a "pay what you can" option for all our programs, from now, forward. Suggested Standard Adult Admission: $30; Students and children: Free. To purchase tickets, go to: Aurea Ensemble's A Child's Christmas in Wales (Eventbrite).

Performance Details:

A Child's Christmas in Wales

Dylan Thomas

Featuring:

Alexey Shabalin, violin

Jesse Holstein, violin

Consuelo Sherba, viola

Emmanuel Feldman, cello

Chris Turner, harmonica and unique improvisations

With Guest Artists:

Malcolm and Elizabeth Ingram, spoken wor

Sunday, December 11, 2022, 3:00pm

St. Martin's Episcopal Church

50 Orchard Ave., Providence, RI 02906

Malcolm Ingram

appeared in the original productions of numerous plays at London's National Theatre and in the West End, including Tom Stoppard's Dirty Linen and Newfound Land at the Art's Theatre, Half Life at the Duke of York's, and Popkiss at The Globe Theatre. Ingram has performed extensively in British regional theater as well as TV, starring in The Camerons for BBC Time Life, and appearing in many plays for the BBC, including Beloved Enemy, The Story of Ruth, Clapperclaw, and Instant Enlightenment. Broadway credits include The Rivals and Match (u/s Frank Langella). Regional theaters include the Actors' Theatre, Louisville; the Berkshire Theatre Festival; the North Shore Music Theatre; and numerous productions at Shakespeare and Company including Pinter's Mirror, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, and Twelfth Night. Ingram has also appeared with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra with Shakespeare at the Symphony; he appeared in This Powerful Rhyme, a program of Shakespeare's sonnets with music by Andrew Waggoner at the Merkin Hall in New York City; the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and the Red House in Syracuse. Ingram teaches voice, classical text, and acting at Syracuse University, as well as workshops and classes at the National University, Emerson College and the New York University theater program. Ingram is a member of the Actors' Equity Association and the British Actors' Equity Association.

Elizabeth Ingram

trained at L.A.M.D.A. in London, England, and was an actress in England and Scotland working in the West End (Poor Bitos, The Chinese Prime Minister), London's Fringe Theatre, The Royal National Theatre, and productions in many Repertory Theatres. She also appeared in several TV productions for BBC and ITV. After coming to the U.S.A. she has been a regular company member of Shakespeare & Company (Massachusetts) where she performed in Richard II, Coriolanus, TheWinter's Tale , Richard III, The Merry Wives of Windsor, All's Well that Ends Well, The Comedy of Errors, Love's Labour's Lost, Mrs. Klein, Pinter's Mirror, and The Inner House, a one woman show on Edith Wharton. Elizabeth has performed at Syracuse Stage in A Christmas Carol, You Never Can Tell, My Fair Lady, A Streetcar Named Desire; at The Actors' Theatre of Louisville in All My Sons; at the Berkshsire Festival Theatre in Heartbreak House; and with The Women's Theatre as Kent in King Lear. Elizabeth is a designated Kristin Linklater voice teacher and an associate professor in the Syracuse University Drama Department. She is also the advisor and faculty person for The All Star C.A.S.T. Drama program for An annual Aurea holiday tradition, A Child's Christmas in Wales features a delightful reading of the Dylan Thomas classic story, with musical interludes of festive chamber music and traditional English carols. The program includes poetry of Dickinson, Oliver, Mansfield and Longfellow, festive chamber music of Britten, Boyce, Handel and Clarke, with traditional English carols.

AUREA ENSEMBLE

Consuelo Sherba, violist, Aurea Artistic Director/ founding member and violist, is an active chamber music and orchestral performer throughout New England, performing regularly with the RI Philharmonic, Buzzards Bay Music Festival. She is also on the faculty of Brown university, Interharmony International Music Festival and the RI Philharmonic Music School. Consuelo was violist of the Charleston String Quartet from 1983-2000, in residence at Brown University, performing throughout the US, Europe and Scandinavia. Since 2004, she has performed with Aurea at the Chicago Humanities Festival, the New York University Humanities Festival, FirstWorks Providence, the Pawtucket Arts Festival, the Maverick Festival and throughout New England. She is a 2015 honoree of the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities for her creative vision and multidisciplinary, humanities-driven programming with Aurea.

Alexey Shabalin, violin

Alexey is is a member of the RI Phil and is Artistic Director/Conductor of the RI Philharmonic Youth Orchestra since 2003. Shabalin graduated from Moscow Conservatory in 1995, having studied with Professors Igor Besrodny and Alexander Melkinov. As a student he won third prize in the Soviet national string quartet competition in 1991. During the same year he was a semifinalist in the International Shostakovich Chamber Music Competition. In 1995 he won the "Best Violinist in a Duet" category in the International Bashmet Competition in Moscow. From 1992 to 1996, Shabalin toured with the world-renowned Moscow Soloists Chamber Orchestra. In 1995 the group gave the second performance ever held of Mozart's newly unearthed Triple Concerto, with Shabalin playing the solo violin part. In recognition of his talent, he was allowed to perform on a priceless Stradivarius violin owned by the Russian government. He moved to the United States in 1996 and has since played in many orchestras and chamber groups.

Jesse Holstein, violin.

Jesse graduated from Oberlin where he studied with Marilyn McDonald. He then received his Master's degree with James Buswell at the New England Conservatory. Prior to Oberlin, he studied violin with Philipp Naegele in Northampton, Massachusetts.

An active recitalist, orchestral and chamber musician, Jesse is currently concertmaster of the New Bedford Symphony. In recent summers, he has performed at the Bravo! Festival in Vail Colorado, the Montana Chamber Music Festival in Bozeman, the Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, Maine, and the Apple Hill Festival in Sullivan, New Hampshire.

Currently, Jesse is a teacher and resident musician for Community MusicWorks and was a founding member of the Providence String Quartet.

Emmanuel Feldman, cello

Hailed by John Williams, Grammy award winning composer and conductor as "an outstanding cellist and truly dedicated artist," Emmanuel Feldman enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, champion and commissioner of new music and educator. With a repertoire ranging from Bach to Ligeti to today's cutting-edge composers, Feldman has concertized throughout Europe and North America. He has performed as soloist with the Boston Pops, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Greensboro Festival Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, New England String Ensemble and many others. An avid chamber musician, he was invited to participate in the Marlboro Music Festival and has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Richard Stoltzman, Gilbert Kalish, Robert Levin, Joy Cline-Phinney, Victor Rosenbaum, Jorge Bolet, Lynn Chang, Marcus Thompson, the Borromeo String Quartet, Aurea Ensemble and soloed with world renowned pop and jazz artist Bobby McFerrin in music from McFerrin's album "Hush."

Following his debut in 2006 on the Bank of America Marquee Celebrity Series, Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe wrote "Emmanuel Feldman was superb in the Bach Solo Suites." His solo CD on Albany Records, Rider on The Plains, featuring Virgil Thomson's Cello Concerto, was part of producer Blanton Alspaugh's 2008 nomination for a Grammy award (Producer of the Year) and was hailed as an "excellent recording...the concerto sounds exhilarating in this bracing and confident performance" by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times. He has also recorded chamber music on the Naxos, Arsis, Zimbel and other labels. A consummate advocate of new music, Feldman has participated in premieres and first recordings of numerous new compositions by composers Richard Danielpour, Michael Gandolfi, John Harbison, Aaron Kernis, David Diamond, Charles Fussell, Gunther Schuller, John McDonald, Jan Swafford and many others. As co-founder of Cello e Basso (formerly the Axiom Duo) with double bassist Pascale Delache-Feldman, they have been called "a musical Lewis and Clark, opening up new musical territories" by NPR's Ron Schacter and are dedicated to bringing new music and new musical experiences to audiences worldwide.

Feldman has participated in the Pablo Casals Festival, Schlesswig Holstein Musik Festival and was a faculty member at the Yellow Barn Music Festival, the Killington Music Festival and the Summit Music Festival.

Chris Turner, harmonica, spoken word

Harmonica virtuoso, Chris Turner was born into a musical family in London, England, and learned harmonica and recorder as a child. He has been playing professionally since 1967, working in a variety of idioms including Folk, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country, Early and Avantgarde music. While traveling extensively in Europe and Africa, he assimilated many different musical styles. Turner studied composition with Christopher Small and improvisation with John Stevens. In 1975, he was recognized for his virtuosity when he was awarded the European Harmonica Championship.

Chris has toured with numerous professional bands and appears on many recordings. He has worked extensively as a composer, music director, and arranger for various theatrical organizations including Rhode Island's prestigious Trinity Repertory Company, as well as for films, animations, radio and TV.

A unique and very talented stylist on all kinds of harmonicas, Turner is equally at home playing blues, various folk styles, as well as modern classical music. He has premiered and recorded orchestral pieces composed for the harmonica and has composed and transcribed others himself. Besides a variety of harmonicas, Chris is also proficient on flutes, bagpipes, shawms, keyboards, brass, synthesizers and some percussion. He has appeared as concerto soloist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Ocean State Chamber Orchestra.

Visit their website: AureaEnsemble.org

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