Jan. 31 – Winona International Dancers
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Come watch as the Winona International Dancers perform dances from around the world. This versatile group will showcase dances from places far and wide, such as Greece, Norway, Poland, Germany and America. The audience can step lively into our diverse dance heritage as the group teaches some fun, spirited and easy to learn dances.

Feb. 7 - Diane Jarvi
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

A singer, songwriter, guitarist and kantele player, Diane Jarvi is a versatile performer of folk and world music. In addition to her own compositions, Jarvi is known for her intimate and authentic interpretations of tangos, waltzes, gypsy music, ballads, swing and cabaret songs from Finland, France, Germany, Cabo Verde, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S.

Feb. 14 – Sowah Mensah
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Sowah Mensah is an ethnomusicologist, composer and a “Master Drummer” from Ghana, West Africa. Sowah has taught music in both Ghana and Nigeria and is currently a music professor at both Macalester College, and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN where he also directs each school’s African Music Ensemble. In addtion, he is currently a James Marsh Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT and directs the African Music Ensemble at the University of Minnesota. Sowah is the director of Sankofa, a Ghanaian Folklore and Dance Ensemble in the Twin Cities and a member of Speaking in Tongues, a four-piece group based out of the Twin Cities that uses two percussionists, a bassist and a Chinese pipa player.

Feb. 21 - Gao Hong
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Gao Hong, a Chinese musical prodigy and master of the pear-shaped lute, the pipa, began her career as a professional musician at age 12. She graduated with honors from China's premier music school, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with the great pipa master Lin Shicheng. In both China and the U.S. Gao has received numerous top awards and honors, including First Prize in the Hebei Professional Young Music Performers Competition; an International Art Cup in Beijing; a Bush Artist Fellowship; two McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians; an Artist Assistance Fellowship, an Artist Initiative Grant, and a Cultural Community Partnership Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board; a LIN (Leadership Initiatives in Neighborhoods) Grant from the St. Paul Companies; three Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grants; an Asian Pacific Award; two Creative Connections from Meet The Composer Inc. in New York; an Encore award, a Subito award, and two Performance Incentive Funds from the American Composers Forum.

Feb. 28 - Calle Sur
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Calle Sur and its members Karin Stein and Ed East are known for their wide variety of unique Latin American music styles. Describing themselves as “Latin-American acoustic folk,” the members’ colorful backgrounds hint at a far more complex sound. Stein, who is of German descent, grew up on a farm in rural Colombia. East’s musical background, which developed in the cosmopolitan environment of Panama City, complements Stein’s. Instead of a very limited and intense exposure to certain types of music, living by the Panama Canal, he said, “brought an influx of different people and cultures, so it was not unusual to have music from the U.S. and South America filtering in.” These two make a unique and outstanding musical duo that will captivate your attention and stun you with an delightful concert experience

Mar. 27 - Nirmala Rajeskar
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Nirmala is a lifelong musician whose extensive and ongoing training is in the ancient tradition of Carnatic music. Since leaving her home country of India, however, she has composed and performed theater and dance music, non-traditional variations on Carnatic music, and poetry accompaniment music. She has also engaged in musical collaborations with local musicians from various musical traditions. After leaving India in 1990, Nirmala lived first in London, England, then in New York, and finally, since 1995, in the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth.

Apr. 10 - Glen Velez
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Glen Velez is considered one of the most influential percussionists of our time, as well as being responsible for a world-wide resurgence in the popularity of the frame drum.

His own compositions have been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and John Schaefer's New Sounds and have been commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and Reader's Digest. He has written music for theater and dance and recorded hundreds of albums on ECM, CBS, RCA, GRP, Warner Brothers, Deutsche Gramophone, Geffen, Nonesuch, Capital, and Sony.

Presented in cooperation with the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, Inc.
through funding from the Minnesota State Legislature

Apr. 17 - Shubhendra Rao
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

Ace Performer and Composer, Shubhendra Rao is a brilliant light for the tradition of the sitar. A protégé of World-renowned maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar, his inspired performances are reminiscent of his Guru yet uniquely his own. Through years of rigorous training and practise under his illustrious Guru, Shubhendra received a firm foundation from where he could explore the world of music and build his own musical persona. Both in his role as a performer as well as a composer, Shubhendra Rao creates an experience for his audience that ranges from the introspective to the resounding.

Apr. 24 - Korean Percussion Ensemble
5:30pm, Tau Center Rotunda

From a distance it can be mistaken for thunder and rapid-fire lightning clashes. As you follow the distant rumbling, the thunder takes the shape of rhythms. Many of you may have heard the hypnotic amalgamation of brass and drums from the Fine Arts Center on campus to the local public schools, as well as at distant music conventions around the country. The UW-L Korean Percussion Ensemble is not only making local noise, but a name for itself around the nation. Dr. Soojin Kim Ritterling, Music Department, is bringing a new genre of old percussion music to classrooms across the country.