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Mauvais Sort's Tour Blog

Band members seated with their instruments.

By Autumn at Arts Midwest

Greetings everyone! We are happy to have Mauvais Sort on tour in the western half of our region now. This is their second time touring for Arts Midwest World Fest, and we are so pleased to have them back again this year! They have already completed their week in Valley City, North Dakota and are now in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The band will also tour to Alexandria, Minnesota and Knoxville, Iowa this year.

Band member Stéphanie Richard has been writing an incredible blog about their time on tour here in the United States. She is posting in both French and English, so be sure to check in from time to time or subscribe to their RSS feed.

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Beauty & Melody - The End of the Tour

The view from backstage in Marquette, Michigan.

By Shigeyo Henriquez, tour manager

After 6 weeks on the road, warm days in Valley City to shivering in snow in Alexandria and Marquette, sunshine, rain and snow and all, the tour came to the end.

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Warm Reception

Musicians on stage

By Lindajoy Fenley, tour manager

Arts Illiana’s offices were filled when we arrived Sunday evening. After introductions and a few questions, members of the ensemble were also interviewed by a local television station. All of us chatted with Terre Haute community members who had put out a delicious spread of food. We took vegetarian soup, cheesecake and other goodies back to our downtown accommodations, which feature kitchenettes in each room.

Week three of our four week tour has begun!

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Tasting the Music

Gilad Ephrat plays the double bass.

By Gilad Ephrat, musician

Gilad Ephrat plays double bass for The Israeli Ethnic Ensemble.

On my honeymoon on a Greek island a couple of years ago, I fell under the spell of two men—Stoykos and Ilias—and the experience inspired me to compose a piece I now play in concert with the Israeli Ethnic Ensemble. The one who reminded me of a famous Israeli comedian operated a small restaurant; his friend, a tall, lanky guy, ran a tavern nearby.

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Playing in Peoria

The Red Barn in Peoria, Illinois

By Lindajoy Fenley, tour manager

We spent a whole day in Peoria, Illinois—that metaphorical yardstick used to measure public acceptance of performers. The Israeli Ethnic Ensemble measured up—and then some.

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Thank you, Knoxville!

Ori Naveh plays percussion on stage.

By Ori Naveh, musician

Today’s guest blogger, Ori Naveh, plays percussion for The Israeli Ethnic Ensemble.

Hi everybody! Here’s a little bit about our last week in Knoxville, Iowa.

The first week of our tour, we arrived in this small pastoral town, which seemed to me like a kind of a typically American place—beautiful landscapes, small lakes, green forests, trees turning orange, yellow, and red. Such wonderful, natural fall beauty.

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Marquette, Michigan

Elementary school workshop in Marquette, Michigan.

By Shigeyo Henriquez, tour manager

Beauty and Melody arrived in Marquette, Michigan early on the evening of Sunday, October 18th. This is our last stop of Arts Midwest World Fest tour.

Marquette is beautiful—filled with fall colors, yellow, red, orange, and tall dark green of evergreens.

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Magic

Musicians with their instruments at a local pub.

By Daniel Hoffman, musician

One of the best things about being a musician is the times when the unexpected happens—when you get a chance to play music with people you may have never met before and everything somehow comes together like magic. It’s a chance to make great connections with people that you may have not even spoken to. This is exactly what came together for the band at Megan McKay Ziller and Scott Ziller’s new brewery last Thursday night.

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Welcome, Israeli Ethnic Ensemble!

Goats in foreground, group of people look on.

By Lindajoy Fenley, tour manager

Please join us in welcoming another group of fantastic musicians to the Midwest! The Israeli Ethnic Ensemble arrived in the U.S. last Friday. Today’s blog post comes to us via their tour manager, Lindajoy Fenley.

From race cars to docile goats, the Israeli Ethnic Ensemble got a feel for down home Iowa this week. After a visit to the 3M plant fell through Tuesday, the five-member ensemble, plus sound man and company manager, visited the Knoxville Raceway which claims the title “dirt racin’ capital of the world,” and had dinner at a family farm.

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Beauty & Melody: Week 4

Teaching the yangqin to Representative Pridemore

By Shigeyo Henriquez, Tour Manager

We are into the fourth week of the tour. We arrived in Hartford, Wisconsin on Sunday evening, October 11th. It was a long drive from Alexandria. Thanks to Joel, our bus driver, for his safe driving.

The first day in Hartford started with a visit to Erin and Neosho elementary schools. The students always amaze me with how well they behave and pay attention to the workshop.

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