Veni, Vidi, Mastercard!
Danny Johnson
Ok, we dodged the worst of a couple of viruses (physical, not virtual) that threatened to make last week even more interesting than it was going to be anyway! Whew, because I would have hated to have missed the party that Meredith put together last Saturday at Wally Workman Gallery! It was fun, a lot of folks donated (and bought) both goods and services (recorder lessons, for example) and good eats and drinks were had by all! Priceless!
Many thanks to those who came to the fundraiser and also to those who couldn't come but who made donations that were extremely helpful! Thanks! And thanks to the TEMP musicians & Board members who made it a fun late-afternoon soirée!
We're heading into preparations for the Sephardic concert (see info below!) and the rest of the season! It's non-stop from now until May ... Calgon, anyone?
-Danny
Songs of the Sephardim: Love, Lament, and Loss
Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 8PM
Congregation Beth Israel, 3901 Shoal Creek Boulevard
Sunday, October 30, 2016 at 3PM
St. Martin's Lutheran Church, 606 West 15th Street
Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.
Take advantage of preferred seating by purchasing Season Tickets
through Oct. 28!
For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.
Expelled from Iberia in 1492, the Sephardim created haunting music that reflected their longing for return to Iberia while adapting their traditions and music to their new homelands.
Sephardic music is at once beautiful and haunting, fun and poignant. TEMP’s performances of these songs of love, jealousy, loss, and comedy are one of Austin’s not-to-be-missed events. Most of us are familiar with the effects of love and its cousins, pain and jealousy, but to hear music from the last 500 years deal with this subject in simple, yet excruciating beauty, illustrates how our emotions aren’t so very different from those of the Sephardic exiles.
TEMP’s unique and creative arrangements, soulful vocal solos, and ensemble pieces explore this music, accompanied by the exotic textures of a hybrid Medieval/Middle Eastern instrumental ensemble. The program includes some favorites from the TEMP Sephardic repertoire (La serena, La rosa enflorece, Puncha, puncha, and the erotically charged song Noches, noches) and many newly-arranged songs and dances. Listen to these audio samples from our CD Night and Day: Sephardic Songs of Love and Exile:
International recorder player and world music specialist Nina Stern (New York) joins us for this concert, along with Bay Area’s Peter Maund, specialist in early and ethnic percussion. Houston’s Therese Honey (harp) joins oud player Josh Peters, Scott Horton, John Walters, Kit Robberson, Bruce Colson, and Stephanie Raby in the instrumental ensemble. Our singers are Gitanjali Mathur, Stephanie Prewitt, Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Gil Zilkha, and Daniel Johnson.
From the passionate, tragic love songs to songs of fantasy and gaiety, this alluring musical genre will capture your imagination and captivate your heart.
