The Hope College Great Performance Series will feature Barbara Furtuna with Constantinople on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The Corsican ensemble Barbara Furtuna (“Cruel Fate”) is a polyphonic group of four men, mostly performing a cappella, or occasionally with other instruments or ensembles. Even though the group still finds its inspiration in the island’s oldest traditions, it is now also known for its own compositions.
Music critic Bernard Gordillo has said that “Like any terrific group, Barbara Furtuna is good on recording and even better live.” Barbara Furtuna has collaborated with Constantinople in the past, and Guy Marceau from La Presse in Quebec has said that the two groups are “Without hesitation, artists that deserve five stars.”
Barbara Furtuna has been performing on the international scene for the last 10 years in Europe, but also North America and Australia. In addition to Constantinople, the group has performed with tenor Placido Domingo and the baroque ensemble L'Arpeggiata.
Constantinople is a Persian-music ensemble, based in Canada, performing and composing music inspired by musical traditions of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, as well as those of the Mediterranean and Middle East. The Weekend Planet (Australia) has said that “Constantinople is one of the world’s finer early music ensembles.”
Tickets are $18 for regular admission, $13 for senior citizens, $6 for children 18 and under, and free for Hope College students. Tickets are available online at hope.edu/tickets as well as at the ticket office in the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The ticket office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
More information about the season may be obtained online.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., at the corner of College Avenue and 12th Street.