This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Major performances at Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts and accompanying events at First Presbyterian Church of Easton, Easton Public Library, Islamic Center of the Lehigh Valley, and the Jewish Community Center will make up a spring festival in the Lehigh Valley called “Ancient Faiths, Modern Voices.”
Focusing on issues of faith and cultural expression, the events will deal with how faith informs culture, how people’s heritage determines their place in history, and how a humane society enfolds its diverse ancestries and embraces its artistic expressions.
“Ancient Faiths, Modern Voices” is a Humanities and the Arts Initiative funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council with additional support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. For more information, contact Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts, (610) 330-5010.
Williams Center performances will take place at 8 p.m. and will be preceded by a 7 p.m. lecture. Due to limited availability, advance ticket purchase for each of the four events is recommended. Tickets may be purchased by calling the box office, (610) 330-5009.
All events at community locations are free and open to the public.
“We are fortunate to have four extraordinary events to present to the Lafayette community and the greater Lehigh Valley,” says Ellis Finger, Lafayette’s director of cultural programs. “We look forward to arranging for a series of campus presentations that will add extra dimensions to the historic understanding of these statements of faith and experience. And we are particularly grateful to the Pennsylvania Humanities Council for its grant to extend the values of this festival into the greater community.”
Here is the schedule of events:
Tuesday, Feb. 27, First Presbyterian Church of Easton, 333 Spring Garden St., Easton — “Modern Voicings of Faith in Music and Dance,” featuring John Gingrich, New York arts administrator and lay minister of the New York Presbytery, at 8 p.m. Contact the church at (610) 253-3579. The event is sponsored by the church and the Easton branch of the Association of University Women.
Tuesday, March 6, Easton Public Library, Sixth and Church Streets, Easton — Susan Hellauer of Anonymous 4 will give a presentation on “Sacred Choral Music and the Work of John Tavener” at 7 p.m. Contact the library at (610) 258-2917.
Wednesday, March 7, Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts — Anonymous 4 and Chilingirian String Quartet will perform John Tavener’s The Bridegroom, Benjamin Britten’s Missa Brevis, and medieval sacred music. Ellis Finger will give the pre-concert lecture. Tickets cost $20.
More Information
Monday, March 19, Islamic Center of the Lehigh Valley, 1988 Schadt Ave., Whitehall — Welcoming event and social hour with the Al-Kindi Ensemble of Damascus, hosted by the Islamic Center and the Syrian community, at 6 p.m. Contact the center at (610) 799-6224.
Monday, March 19, Jewish Community Center, 702 North 22nd St., Allentown –“The Jewish Legacy of Gustav Mahler’s Music,” featuring pianist/composer Uri Caine and cantor Ellen Sussman, at 8 p.m. Contact the center at (610) 435-3571.
Tuesday, March 20, Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts — The Al-Kindi Ensemble of Damascus and Whirling Dervishes will present Sufi-inspired music of Islam. Müge Galin, professor of literature at The Ohio State University, will give the pre-concert lecture. Tickets cost $18.
More Information
Wednesday, April 4, Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts — The Steve Reich Ensemble will perform Reich’s Holocaust work, Different Trains, as part of an all-Reich program also to include “Drumming,” “Marimba Nagoya,” and “New York Counterpoint.” Reich will give the pre-concert lecture. Tickets cost $20.
More Information
Wednesday, April 11, Lafayette’s Williams Center for the Arts — The Uri Caine Jazz Group will present The Mahler Project, a contemporary reworking of themes by Gustav Mahler for jazz ensemble, featuring elements of Klezmer, Cantoral songs, and vernacular Jewish musis. Larry Lipkis, professor of music at Moravian College, will give the pre-concert lecture. Tickets cost $15.
More Information