Connecticut debut of London's Juice Vocal Ensemble at Wesleyan University on Saturday, November 9, 2013
Juice Vocal Ensemble
Saturday, November 9, 2013 at 8pm
Connecticut debut by London-based a cappella trio
Middletown, Conn.—The 39th annual Crowell Concert Series presented by Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and Music Department continues with the Connecticut debut concert by London's Juice Vocal Ensemble on Saturday, November 9, 2013 at 8pm in Crowell Concert Hall located at 50 Wyllys Avenue on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown. The concert by the experimental a cappella trio, which will combine contemporary classical with folk, jazz, world music, pop, and electronica, is also a part of the Performing Arts Series. (Please see below for more details about both the Crowell Concert Series and the Performing Arts Series).
The Juice Vocal Ensemble features sopranos Anna Snow and Sarah Dacey, and alto Kerry Andrew. For their first U.S. tour since an appearance at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March 2011, at Wesleyan the group will perform vibrant classical works by U.K. composers including Gabriel Prokofiev, a new work by New York-based composer and Wesleyan alumnus Toby Twining MA '06, and unusual arrangements of British folk songs and pop music by Guns N' Roses, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Erasure, Kraftwerk, and Donna Summer.
There will be a pre-concert talk at 7:15pm in Crowell Concert Hall by Wesleyan University John Spencer Camp Professor of Music Neely Bruce.
A Crowell Concert Series event presented by the Music Department and the Center for the Arts.
Tickets for the concert are $22 for the general public; $18 for senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, and non-Wesleyan students; and $6 for Wesleyan students. Tickets are currently available online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/boxoffice; and by phone at (860) 685-3355 or in person at the Wesleyan University Box Office, located in the Usdan University Center, 45 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour prior to the performance, subject to availability. The Center for the Arts accepts cash, checks written to “Wesleyan University,” and all major credit cards. No refunds, cancellations, or exchanges. Groups of ten or more may purchase discounted $15 tickets to this concert — please call (860) 685-3355 for details. Programs, artists and dates are subject to change without notice.
About Juice Vocal Ensemble
Juice Vocal Ensemble, called "the 21st century’s answer to the Swingles or the King’s Singers" by The Times, are at the forefront of the U.K.’s experimental/classical scene, performing new vocal music with influences ranging from Meredith Monk to the Beach Boys, and also drawing on improvisation and theater. They have been featured on B.B.C. Radio 4’s "Woman’s Hour," B.B.C. Radio 3, and Classic FM. They have performed at London’s Wigmore Hall and the South Bank, King’s Place and the Roundhouse. In 2007, they were the first U.K. prize winners in the history of the internationally-renowned Tampere Vocal Festival.
Their playful debut album "Songspin" (2011) won an Independent Music Award for "Best Contemporary Classical Album" in May 2012. Featuring remixes by Camille producer MaJiker and Björk collaborator Mikhail Karikis, the album was described by The Observer as "eighteen immaculately achieved tracks, spanning Elisabeth Lutyens to Gabriel Prokofiev via folk song and avant garde, [that] enchant and enthrall."
Choreographer Maurice Causey from the Nederlands Dans Theatre has set works to music by the Juice Vocal Ensemble. The group has devised their own live vocal score to the 1916 film "The Danger Girl" (BFI Southbank, Latitude Festival, King’s Place with the Bird’s Eye View Film Festival); performed live for a London College of Fashion Graduate Show; and have worked with internationally-renowned beatboxers Shlomo and Beardyman.
The Juice Vocal Ensemble regularly commissions new works. In 2010, the group commissioned fourteen new pieces, including their project "Laid Bare – 10 Love Songs." This saw the group work with ten diverse U.K.-based composers, including Gavin Bryars, Anna Meredith, Errollyn Wallen, folk singer Jim Moray and artpop star Micachu to create an utterly diverse songbook spanning fiendishly difficult contemporary writing to ethereal folk song settings. These have been performed at The Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Kings Place, the City of London Festival, the National Portrait Gallery and the York Late Music Festival.
Juice Vocal Ensemble are experienced and passionate music educators, bringing experimental a cappella vocal music (both performance and composition) to groups of all ages and abilities. They have been ensemble in residence at the Universities of York and Ulster and have run workshops and longer projects at numerous other academic institutions. They have run youth projects for Aldeburgh Young Musicians, Wigmore Hall, Live Music Now, and Sound and Music.
For more information about Juice Vocal Ensemble, please visit http://www.juicevocalensemble.net.
About the Performing Arts Series
The Performing Arts Series at the Center for the Arts features a wide array of world-class musicians, cutting-edge choreography, and groundbreaking theater performances and discussions. This season's upcoming performances include the Connecticut premiere of “Pavement” (2012) by Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion (Friday, November 15 & Saturday, November 16, 2013); the Connecticut debut of the Ignacio Berroa Trio (Saturday, February 1, 2014); the New England premiere of “Times Bones” (2013) by Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (Friday, February 14 & Saturday, February 15, 2014); the first New England performance by Vadym Kholodenko since winning the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medal (Friday, February 14, 2014); and the 15th annual DanceMasters Weekend Showcase Performance (Saturday, March 8, 2014). For more information, please visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.
Save 15% when you buy tickets to four or more Performing Arts Series events. Call or visit the Wesleyan University Box Office at (860) 685-3355 to take advantage of this discount.
About the Crowell Concert Series
The Crowell Concert Series at the Center for the Arts features a wide array of world-class musicians. This season's performances include the Connecticut debut of the Ignacio Berroa Trio (Saturday, February 1, 2014); and the first New England performance by Vadym Kholodenko since winning the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medal (Friday, February 14, 2014). Past artists that have performed as part of the Crowell Concert Series include Afro-Cuban All-Stars, Amelia Piano Trio, American Brass Quintet, AnDa Union, Anonymous 4, Ahmad Jamal, Balfa Toujours, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bill Frisell Trio, Boston Chamber Music Society, Bulgarian Bebop, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Charles Lloyd Quartet, Cherish the Ladies, Claude Frank, Crooked Still, David Krakauer & Klezmer Madness, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, Don Byron: "Jungle Music for Postmoderns," Donald Berman: "Celebrating Chopin’s 200th Birthday," Dünya, Eddie Palmieri, eighth blackbird, Eileen Ivers, Entrequatre, Ernest Dawkins, Eugenia Leon, Fernando Otero Quartet, FleytMuzik, FLUX Quartet, Henry Threadgill, Hugh Masekela, Joshua Roman, Kronos Quartet, Le Vent du Nord, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Lionel Loueke Trio, Lionheart, Margaret Leng Tan, Maya Beiser & Anthony de Mare, Midori, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, "Music at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello," Near Eastern Music Ensemble, Omar Sosa, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Otis Taylor, Parthenia, Paul Brady, Pedro Carboné, Peter Serkin, Randy Weston, Regina Carter Quintet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, San Jose Taiko, sfSoundGroup, Shanghai Quartet, Stanley Cowell Quartet, The American Piano, The Assad Brothers, The Baltimore Consort, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Drepung Loseling Monastery, Thomas Mapfumo/Blacks Unlimited, Tiempo Libre, Tokyo String Quartet, Toumani Diabaté, Trio Globo, Turtle Island String Quartet with Stefon Harris, Vieux Farka Touré, Voices of Afghanistan, and Zakir Hussain & L. Shankar.
About the Music Department
The Wesleyan University Music Department provides a unique and pioneering environment for advanced exploration committed to the study, performance, and composition of music from a perspective that recognizes and engages the breadth and diversity of the world's musics and technologies. As an integral part of one of the nation's leading liberal arts institutions, the department has enjoyed an international reputation for innovation and excellence, attracting students from around the globe since the inception of its visionary program in World Music four decades ago.
Recent annual music festivals in partnership with the Center for the Arts have brought to campus a diverse array of artists, including Max Roach, Pete Seeger, Boukman Eksperyans (Haiti), Boogsie Sharpe (Trinidad), and Hugh Masekela (South Africa).
A recording studio, a computer and experimental music studio, the Center for the Arts media lab and digital video facility, the World Instrument Collection (which includes the David Tudor Collection of electronic musical instruments and instrumentation) and the Scores and Recordings Collection of Olin Library (which includes the World Music Archives) offer many learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
For more information about the Music Department, please visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/music/.