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ORANGE CITY – The acclaimed Israeli ensemble, Baladino, will perform in Orange City and surrounding towns March 24-28.
It’s part of a five-week tour, sponsored by Arts Midwest and the Orange City Arts Council. Baladino’s residency will culminate in a public performance on Friday, March 28 at 7:30pm at the Northwestern College Chapel in Orange City.
Baladino gathers its music from traditional melodies, carried to Israel by the Jewish people who were expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492. The Jews lived in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East – everywhere from Yemen, Iraq and Morocco to Hungary, Germany, Turkey and Greece. So Israel is a melting pot, with “a collision of cultures,” said Yonnie Dror of Baladino.
So their music is eclectic too.
The members of Baladino, from Tel Aviv, begin with old melodies – some 500 years old – then add jazz, rock and classical influences. They perform with both ancient and new instruments: soprano saxophone, flute, percussion, violin, mandolin, vocals, duduk, ney, ram’s horn and more. The duduk is the great grandfather of the oboe and bassoon, and sounds like a weeping man, said Dror. These days, it’s used in Hollywood in dramatic scenes from ancient times: in movies like Gladiator, Blood Diamond and The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.
The ram’s horn, or shofar, was used in the battle of Jericho, and is also used as a climax of prayer. The Jewish people believe that the sound of the shofar “opens up the gates of heaven, so God listens to the prayers,” said Dror.
Dror, leader of the ensemble, plays 30 wind instruments. Yael Badash of Baladino has received awards for her vocals and her work in Ladino music. Baladino was honored last fall with invitations to perform at the Chicago and Madison world music festivals.
General admission tickets for the public concert on Friday, March 28 at 7:30pm at Northwestern’s Christ Chapel may be purchased at Dove Bookstore and at the door, at $10 adults and $7 students. Children age five and under are free.
Baladino will also do school programs, workshops and coffee house shows. On Mon., March 24, Baladino will perform at Fruited Plain Cafe in Sioux Center. On Wed., March 26, Baladino will perform at Old Factory Coffee Shop in Orange City. Both shows will begin at 7:30pm, with a $2 cover charge.
Through the Orange City Arts Council, Orange City was selected as the one city in Iowa to host the 2013-’15 Arts Midwest World Fest. Arts Midwest partners with program sponsors like The National Endowment for the Arts and 3M. The show is part of the Beyond Onstage series, funded in part by the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
For more information, contact the Orange CIty Arts Council at 712-707-4885.
KWIT radio’s Mark Munger interviewed Janine Calsbeek about Baladino: https://soundcloud.com/publicradio-kwit/baladino-orange-city-arts
For more info and complete schedule, click here: http://orangecityarts.net/2014/02/israeli-ensemble-baladino-to-perform-in-orange-city-march-24-28/
http://orangecityarts.net/2013/06/beyond-onstage-2013-14-season-series/
A program of Arts Midwest, the 2013-2015 Arts Midwest World Fest cycle is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, 3M Foundation, and MetLife Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China for Shangri La, Délégation du Québec a Chicago for Le Vent du Nord, and the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest for Baladino. This activity is also funded, in part, by the Minnesota State Arts Board through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
Arts Midwest World Fest is also generously supported by Illinois Arts Council, Indiana Arts Commission, Iowa Arts Council, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Minnesota State Arts Board, North Dakota Council on the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, South Dakota Arts Council, and Wisconsin Arts Board.
Schedule:
Monday, March 24:
10:00am Dordt College class, Sioux Center
1:00pm Kinsey Elementary, Sioux Center
7:30pm Fruited Plain Cafe in Sioux Center. $2 cover
Tuesday, March 25:
10:25am MOC-FV Middle School, Alton
1:54pm Unity Christian High School clinic.
6:30-7:30pm Northwestern College Chapel. Workshop/ assembly, free for Northwestern College students and staff. Others: $6.
Wednesday, March 26:
10:00am Northwestern College Chapel, special music
4:00pm Village Northwest in Sheldon
7:30pm Old Factory Coffee Shop in Orange City. $2 cover
Thursday, March 27:
10:00am Unity Knight Center. High school/ middle school workshop/ assembly.
1:00pm Unity Knight Center. Elementary/ middle school workshop/ assembly.
Friday, March 28:
7:30pm: PUBLIC SHOW at Northwestern College Chapel. $10 adults, $7 students, free for children ages 5 and under.
