British ensemble VOICE performs Feb. 4 at the Redfern Arts Center

Celebrate the coming of Valentine’s Day with the wonderful British ensemble Voice, sharing songs of beauty, heartache and the humor of love on Wednesday, February 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College. The Keene State Concert Choir and award-winning choreographer Candice Salyers will join Voice during the If Music Be the Food of Love concert.

Tickets range from $25 to $15 depending on seating and $5 for KSC students. Members of community choral groups are invited to attend at a discounted ticket price of $10 for adults and $5 for children. For tickets, contact the Redfern Box Office, which is open Monday to Friday from noon to 6 p.m., call 603-358-2168 or order online at www.keene.edu/racbp. See a video clip and more information about Voice and the free activities surrounding this concert on the Redfern website, www.keene.edu/racbp.

For their second North American tour, the acclaimed Voice trio (Emily Burn, Victoria Couper, and Clemmie Franks), performs If Music Be the Food of Love, a program that focuses on the extraordinary role of women in music as composers, performers, and muses. Their program repertoire is diverse yet complementary, encompassing music from medieval France and Germany, 18th century catches, traditional songs from England and Scotland, and vocal arrangements of Shakespearean ballads and sonnets.

The Keene State College Concert Choir will join Voice when they perform the devotional songs of the medieval German abbess Saint Hildegarde von Bingen, whose soaring lines express spiritual love and her deep empathy with the natural world and the female form. Also joining Voice is acclaimed choreographer Candice Salyers, who will perform a new dance solo with the ensemble that was specially commissioned by the Redfern Arts Center.

There are several free activities open to the public in conjunction with the Voice concert.

• Site-based dance solo with Candice Salyers accompanying the song “Caritas Habundant,” to be performed on Friday, January 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Marion Wood Reading Room at the Mason Library of Keene State College. The dance piece will be performed repeatedly and can be viewed from inside or outside the library.

• A Music workshop: “Rounds through the Ages” takes place at 2 p.m. Wednesday, February 4, in Alumni Recital Hall of the Redfern Arts Center. This is an interactive vocal workshop for singers of all abilities. Voice explores the development of the round and provides an opportunity to hone listening and communication skills and share musical repertoire. Voice gives a brief history of the musical form rondellus with sung examples from the earliest known through to contemporary usage and more complex forms.

• A Post-show Reception and Meet and Greet with Voice artists takes place in the Redfern’s Main Lobby immediately following the February 4 performance.

Voice from Oxford, England, formed in 2006. In 2013, they released their debut album Musical Harmony: “…a stunning body of work destined to prick up the hairs on the back of one’s neck,” said Tim Hughes with the Oxford Times & Mail. Voice collaborates regularly with composers, musicians, artists, and poets, performing at festivals across the UK and Europe. In 2013 they made their debut performance in Bucharest as part of EUROPAfest, in Brussels at La Chappelle de Verre, and completed their first USA tour. In 2014, Voice toured the UK with their program Patterns of Love.

The Voice performance is a collaboration with the Keene State College Departments of Music and Theatre and Dance, and is funded in part by The Kingsbury Fund and the New England States Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the six New England state arts agencies.

About Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College

The Arts Center is named in honor of Dr. Leo F. Redfern, Keene State College President from 1969 to 1979 for his vision, commitment, and eloquence on behalf of the arts that made funding and construction of the facility a reality. In 1981, KSC inaugurated this new performing arts center, with the goal of providing unforgettable artistic encounters for the campus and community. Now in its 33rd year, the Redfern Arts Center presents and fosters dynamic, multifaceted arts experiences through performances, residencies, and related programs that deepen the connection between the arts and audiences, both from the campus and the greater Monadnock region.