Globally Acclaimed Musical Artist, Scholar in Residence to be Featured in FSU Rainbow Concert
Roee Ben Sira, globally acclaimed composer, arranger, ethnomusicologist, and pianist from Israel, will be featured in FSU’s Rainbow Concert of World Music, one of the country’s largest higher education world music programs, on Tuesday, February 28.
Ben Sira is an internationally renowned contemporary master of Brazilian choro music, an instrumental genre with origins from 19thcentury Rio de Janeiro. Choro is the musical intersection of upbeat samba, bossa nova, jazz, and classical, truly making it world music.
This year's concert features Ben Sira with the newly created FSU Brazilian Choro Ensemble under his direction (and with percussive assistance provided by FSU World Music Ensembles Program Director Dr. Michael Bakan). According to Bakan, Ben Sira will also perform with other ensembles from FSU's nationally renowned program, including in an original arrangement of the Brazilian classic "Aquarela do Brasil" for piano and Balinese gamelan.
"I'm excited to share my music with the wonderful musicians here at the FSU College of Music," said Ben Sira. “Choro was kept secret in Brazil for many years, and now it is finally reaching global audiences throughout the world. Choro has everything you need in music: beautiful melodies, rich harmonies, and those infectious Brazilian grooves. It is both uplifting and sentimental. We are going to have lots of fun on the 28th! Don't miss this very special concert. Obrigado!”
The Rainbow Concert will feature a variety of traditional and new world sounds with performances by all ten FSU world music ensembles: Chinese, Andean, African, Irish, Blues, Rock, Mas N Steel, and Old-Time, plus the Gamelan and the Brazilian group. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for students, and may be purchased through the College of Music Box Office: 645-7949.
Ben Sira’s presence at FSU is made possible by the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artists Program, an initiative of the Israel Institute to promote the study of modern Israel by bringing Israeli musicians, artists, filmmakers, choreographers and writers to top universities in North America. He will be a visiting international scholar at FSU until May 5.
Photography by Dudu Bachar
