Program is Inspired by the Romanticism of the 20th Century Russian Artistic Sensibility
“Intensity, superb sound, precision and musicality that made everything soar!” — The Boston Intelligencer, Huffington Post
Providence, RI – Aurea Ensemble, Aurea Ensemble, one of New England’s most original and extraordinary chamber ensembles, is thrilled to present another new program, Secret Signs, on March 30, 2019 8:00 pm at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 50 Orchard Avenue, Providence.
Secret Signs is inspired by the title of a poem by Alexander Blok, poet and close friend of Dimitri Shostakovich. It refers to the artistic language of secrecy and irony which pervades much of the great Russian music and poetry of the 20th century, while still clinging to a deeply rooted romanticism.
At the heart of the program is the irrepressible artistic spirit which persists in the face of enormous political, emotional and artistic repression; the sheer terror of trying to stay alive, while bearing witness to incomprehensible atrocities. Much of the program revolves around Shostakovich, the master of irony and secret signs, with hidden codes embedded throughout his artistic output.
The program will include composer, pianist, writer Lera Auerbach’s viola and piano transcriptions of Shostakovich’s very early piano preludes; Shostakovich’s late Songs on Poems of Alexander Blok; and his Piano Quintet in G Minor, written in 1940.
Additionally, the group will premiere Inessa Zaretsky’s violin and piano version of Cloud, Castle, Lake, inspired by Nabokov’s short story, steeped in the clandestine political nightmare of his time.
Guest artists performing in Secret Signs are Russian soprano, Zhanna Alkhazova and pianist, Inessa Zaretsky. Aurea Ensemble performers include Nigel Gore, spoken word; Katherine Winterstein, violin; Andrew Eng, violin; artistic director and founder of Aurea Ensemble, Consuelo Sherba, viola; and Emmanuel Feldman, cello.
Based in Rhode Island and founded more than 15-years ago, this eclectic chamber ensemble explores the relationship between music and the spoken word.
The group takes its name from Catena Aurea Homeri, or the Golden Chain of Homer, a symbol of 18th century esoteric alchemy – the combining of disparate elements into a divine new element.
This is the very definition of every Aurea event: a new kind of artistic experience is created out of the group’s strong framework of classical, folk and contemporary music performed together with eloquent poetry, journals and prose.
Aurea often collaborates with guest artists such as musicians, actors, puppeteers, dancers and visual artists.
Aurea approaches cross-cultural themes in their programming believing the arts inform our understanding of these issues.
Serving a broad audience, Aurea reaches national festivals including the Chicago Humanities Festival, the NYU Humanities Festival, Maverick Concerts, Providence International Arts Festival, FirstWorks, university concerts, an annual concert series and educational outreach.
Saturday, March 30, 2019
8:00 pm
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
50 Orchard Avenue, Providence, RI
Admission: $30 General; $25 Senior; $10 Student
Tickets are available at the door or in advance at
All Ages.