About |
The Core Ensemble (piano, cello, percussion and actors) tours the U.S. offering music theatre celebrating multicultural, feminist, and humanistic themes. Our shows tour primarily in Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Women’s History Month, although programs are available year round. We have promoted diversity, inclusion and social justice through the arts since the 1990’s.
Our shows have reached every region of the U.S. as well as Russia, Ukraine, England, the Caribbean and Australia. We have performed in such prestigious venues as the Guggenheim Museum, Central Park SummerStage, the Chautauqua Institute, Boston Center for the Arts and the Queensland Biennial Festival. We have received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Humanities Council, Commissioning Music/USA, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.
The Core Ensemble executed a series of projects resulting in music theatre programs created and performed with groups such as the Delray Beach, FL Haitian community, residents of rural Glades County, FL, urban youth in Planned Parenthood programs, and farm workers in Palm Beach County, FL. These projects, as well as the touring shows, have a central theme of social justice.
Our shows which are currently touring include:
1)“Of Ebony Embers-Vignettes of the Harlem Renaissance” (touring since 1998) is a joyful exploration of African American music and poetry of the 1920’s and 30’s. The show features three poets of the period: Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and Claude McKay as well as painter and muralist Aaron Douglas. The musical score is drawn from great composers of the Jazz Age (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Jelly Roll Morton) and African American composers of classical music (Jeffrey Mumford, George Walker). Tours in Black History Month.
2)“Tres Vidas” (“Three Lives”- touring since 2002) is based on the lives of three legendary Latin American women: Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni and Salvadoran peasant-activist Rufina Amaya. The music ranges from traditional Mexican folk and Argentine tango songs sung in Spanish to instrumental works by composers such as Astor Piazzolla. Tours in Hispanic Heritage Month and Women's History Month.
3)“Ain’t I a Woman!” (touring since 2005) is based on the lives of four African-American women: novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, ex-slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, folk artist Clementine Hunter, and civil rights worker Fannie Lou Hamer. The musical score is drawn from the heartfelt spirituals and blues of the Deep South, the urban vitality of the Jazz Age, and contemporary concert music by African Americans. Tours in Black History Month and Women's History Month.
4. “Los Valientes” (“The Courageous Ones - to premiere fall 2012) will be the centerpiece for residency programming in Florida followed by national touring. “Los Valientes” features three renowned Latin American figures: muralist Diego Rivera, slain human rights activist Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador and Mexican-American outlaw Joaquin Murrieta on whom the Zorro legend is based. The score will include concert repertoire by Latin American composers and popular and folk music from Latino cultures. Tours during Hispanic Heritage Month.
5. “Harvest of Voices”. A new touring music theatre piece based on oral histories of farm workers. Touring will take place in 2014 - 2015 in communities with large agricultural populations.
SPECIALTIES: Multicultural Music Theatre, Blending Chamber Music Theatre with Social Justice, Touring Multi-Genre Productions, Diversity and Inclusion.