January 19, 2017

Award-winning German vocal ensemble returning to Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue welcomes back Calmus to perform “All the World’s a Stage: Shakespeare A Capella,” with selections inspired by “Twelfth Night,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Othello” and more on Jan. 31 at 7:30 pm at St. Thomas Aquinas. This performance is presented by Purdue Convocations with support from Ginny Tyler.

Ticketholders are also invited to attend a pre-show dinner hosted by Purdue Memorial Union’s Sagamore Room beginning at 5:30 pm. Reservations are required. Visit www.dining.purdue.edu/SelectDining/ to reserve a table. 

If music be the food of love, play on. Duke Orsino’s plea in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” has also inspired “All the World’s a Stage: Shakespeare A Cappella”—the latest playfully imaginative program from Calmus, one of Germany’s most successful vocal groups. With arrangements spanning the Baroque era to the 20th century, Calmus pairs its perfect blend of precision, lightness, and wit to the Bard’s mellifluous monologues, sweet sonnets, and dramatic declarations. Selections have been inspired by “Twelfth Night,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Cymbeline,” “Othello,” and “The Tempest” and interpreted by such legendary composers as Henry Purcell, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Taverner and Jaakko Mäntyjärvi. Calmus returns to Purdue and the reverberant warmth of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, 535 W. State St., following its 2010 performance as winners of the Concert Artist Guild International competition. 

Formed in 1999 by five former members of Leipzig’s St. Thomas Boys Choir, Calmus added a female soprano in 2001, broadening its sonic color and musical range. Hailing from Bach’s home, Calmus is a natural fit for Baroque music, as well as that of the Renaissance and Romantic eras. But this ECHO Klassik award-winning group also passionately promotes music of the modern era — from chansons and songbook standards to contemporary commissioned pieces. This open-arms repertoire has thrilled listeners across Europe, South America, and North America—including an acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall. The Washington Post has said, “The group held the audience…spellbound with its artistry. …In matters of pitch, diction and musical shaping, I’ve never heard finer ensemble singing.”

Join us for this evening of vocal music that will surely come o’er your ear like a sweet sound.

Tickets are $28 for adults and $22 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Stewart Center box office at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Group tickets are also available to groups of 10 more. Call 765-496-1977 or visit https://purdue.edu/convocations/group-sales/ for more details.

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations was one of the first professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theater, dance, children's theater, world music, jazz, and chamber music, along with rock, pop, country and comedy attractions. With a vision for connecting artists and audiences in artistic dialogue and for drawing in academic discourse, Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media. 

Source: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, (765)494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Publication-quality photos are available at http://www.convocations.org/press

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