The mission of Aurea Ensemble is to investigate and invigorate the relationship between music and the spoken word. Aurea aspires to unify the humanities and fine arts in dynamic, accessible & engaging ways through performance and educational outreach. Aurea’s concerts combine poetry with classical, folk and contemporary music, to create performances that sweep from intimate chamber settings to major theatrical venues.
For this show, Melville & the Great White Whale, Aurea sets its gaze on the life and times of Herman Melville and his seminal work, Moby-Dick. Fusing passages from the novel; Melville’s letters to Nathaniel Hawthorne, the novel’s dedicatee; string quartets of Beethoven and Webern, sea shanties and evocative harmonica improvisations of Chris Turner, Aurea highlights the philosophical themes inherent in this great American novel.