Traditional American music

This could be an excellent opportunity to get into the "Quad state of mind" with music, as we prepare for the 2009 commemoration of Henry Hudson's journey up the river that now bears his name. The beautiful Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass. (just over the Columbia County border) is an easy (and enjoyable) drive from most parts of the Hudson Valley.

Close Encounters With Music will present American Holiday Tapestry, a performance in which the 12-member Rose Ensemble "reincarnates itself in the 17th through 19th centuries on American shores. Traditional Acadian and Scottish dance music, Shaker melodies, spirituals, wassail songs, and colonial Jewish synagogue hymns are featured. The remarkably broad selection also includes Mexican Baroque and Hawaiian selections with mandolin and vihujela de mano accompaniment, as well as guitar, Native American flute, and foot stomping!" Sounds like there will be something for everyone!

Show starts at 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 6. Tickets are $35 for adults and $10 for students, and are available through the Mahaiwe Box Office at 413-528-0100 or at www.mahaiwe.org. More info is available at Close Encounters With Music .

Here is more info about the group:

Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and founded in 1996 by Artistic Director Jordan Sramek, The Rose Ensemble creates imaginative performances of vocal music, connecting each individual to past worlds with stories of spirituality and humanity. Each presentation brings research from the world’s manuscript libraries to new audiences, illuminating centuries of rarely performed repertoire. Called “first class” (Neuss-Grevenbroicher Zeitung), “Engaging…satisfying” (Gramophone), with programs that are “flawlessly performed and smoothly structured” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), The Rose Ensemble is the recipient of the 2005 Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, and first-place winner in the sacred music category at the 2007 Tolosa International Choral Competition (Spain). With seven critically acclaimed recordings and a diverse selection of concert programs, the group has thrilled audiences across the US and Europe with repertoire spanning 1,000 years and over 25 languages, including new research in Hawaiian, Swedish, Mexican, and American vocal traditions.

This is Close Encounters With Music's 17th season in the Berkshires, offering programs of chamber music. The audience is invited to a reception to meet the artists immediately following The Rose Ensemble performance at the Mahaiwe Theatre.