Performing for peace

Yuval Ron Ensemble will welcome local Jewish performers, and others, for a concert in Stillwater

By DORIS RUBENSTEIN

Jews in Stillwater? Yes, there’s a small Jewish community on the St. Croix River, but on Sunday night, Jan. 22, the Jewish population in the “birthplace of Minnesota” is likely to boom thanks to Yuval Ron.

Israel-born, Los Angeles-based Yuval Ron has assembled a unique ensemble of performers, each of whom represents a different faith tradition: Judaism, Sufi Islam and Armenian Orthodoxy. Each brings a different musical, mystical and spiritual gift to offer an unusual musical presentation to its audience.

Titled “Under the Olive Tree: A Concert for Unity,” the Jan. 22 program at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater will include guest appearances by Twin Cities vocalist David Jordan Harris, dancer Judith Brin Ingber and several local choirs joining the ensemble on stage.

The program is co-sponsored by Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council, an initiative of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation.

The Yuval Ron Ensemble (YRE) comes to Stillwater after performing around the world. Invitations from the King of Morocco brought them to Fez in 2009 to appear at the International Sacred Music Festival; in South Korea, they were part of the 2005 International Peace Festival. Their music has gone around the world, as well, as part of National Public Radio’s Echoes and Hearts of Space programs.

The group’s namesake leader, Yuval Ron, first came to Minnesota in 2011 to conduct a series of artist-in-residence programs at St. John’s University in Collegeville; McNally-Smith School of Music in St. Paul; and Concordia University in Moorhead. While at the latter, a Concordia student told her Lutheran pastor father in Stillwater about Ron and encouraged him to invite the group to their church.

The YRE is only one expression of Ron’s talent. Trained at the Berklee College of Music, Ron is an award-winning composer of scores for television and film, including an Academy Award for his compositions for West Bank Story in 2006.

Ron was inspired to form the YRE after the start of the second Intifada in 2001. Disheartened by the extent of the violence, he resolved to create something that would help to bridge the gaps between the religious groups engaged in and affected by the uprising, and to bring the message of peace and conciliation to people around the world.

“Musicians are great networkers,” Ron said. “Once the word got out that I wanted to organize a group with this message, the phone didn’t stop ringing.”

There was no shortage of talent, and Ron was able to handpick exactly the right artists to complete and complement each other in the ensemble. While many of the artists are Ron’s neighbors in the Los Angeles area, those who live more than a three-hours’ drive away are still able to rehearse live every Monday night via Skype.

While the concert in Stillwater will have but one performance, Ron will remain a while longer in Minnesota as artist in residence at St. Mary’s University in Winona. On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the YRE will be joined by Sufi dancer Aziz in a performance titled “Seeker of Truth” at St. Mary’s; for information, call 507-457-1715.

Yuval Ron has travelled around the world with his message of peace. It’s worth the trip to Stillwater to hear it yourself.

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“Under the Olive Tree: A Concert for Unity,” will take place 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 in the Worship Center at Trinity Lutheran Church, 115 N. Fourth St., Stillwater. The cost is $5 for adults and free for children and youth. For information, contact Carol Carver, director of worship ministries, at:”¨ccarver@trinitylc.org or”¨651-439-7400, ext. 118.

For information on the Yuval Ron Ensemble, visit: www.yuvalronmusic.com.

(American Jewish World, 1.20.12)