Critically acclaimed and award winning Toronto’s Beyond the Pale is one of most exciting ensembles on the folk, roots, and world music scenes. Their explosive acoustic sound is inspired by cross-cultural influences from European folk music (Klezmer, Balkan, Gypsy) to contemporary styles (bluegrass, jazz, reggae, and more). Their infectious energy and inventive arrangements of traditional material will insure an exuberant performance. Beyond the Pale has a unique genre-defining sound that has delighted audiences at major music festivals and theaters across Canada and the U.S.

Israeli born Yizhak Schotten was discovered by the renowned violist William Primrose. Mr. Schotten has had a stunning career as a soloist and with orchestras in North America, Europe, and the Far East. He has performed in Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Jordon Hall and at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. He and his wife, Katherine Collier, who is his accompanist, have played at the Aspen and Tanglewood festivals, and direct their own Classical Music Festival each summer in Maui, Hawaii. They joined the University of Michigan School of Music faculty in 1985 and also direct Chamber Music Ann Arbor.

For over twenty years, the Michigan State University based Verdehr Trio has performed in the U.S., Russia, and fourteen European Countries in widely celebrated concerts. They have commissioned over 200 works for violin, piano and clarinet trio combination. New works have been commissioned and composed for them by such luminaries as William Bolcom and Gian Carl Menotti, and the Verdehrs have transcribed many works by romantic and baroque composers. The group has single handedly created a new medium forging a repertoire that they have recorded on CDs and videos.

The Chenille Sisters is a uniquely gifted trio who sing with smooth as silk harmonies, wit, and warmth. Together for over 20 years, this Ann Arbor group has toured the country playing with orchestras, jazz bands and folk musicians. They have sung with Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion and were featured in their own PBS television special. Their repertoire ranges from parody to swing to folk including traditional and original pieces. Experience a performance that promises to be a sweet, serious, silly and satisfying sensation.