Internationally Renowned Soprano, Harpsichordist to Perform at Scranton
Harpsichordist Shalev Ad-El
The University of Scranton's Schemel Forum will present a spring concert by harpsichordist Shalev Ad-El and soprano Enas Massalha on Tuesday, April 14. The Beauty of the Baroque: A Twilight Interlude, will take place from 6 to 7:15 p.m. in the Ann and Leo Moskovitz Theater, of the Patrick and Margaret DeNaples Center on campus. A reception will follow. Admission for the concert is $20 for non-members of the Schemel Forum, and free for Schemel members.
Ad-El and Massalha will perform works by Bach, Mozart, Gluck and other composers.
"The Schemel Forum is fortunate to have two of Israel's leading young musicians appear on our program at The University of Scranton," said Sondra Myers, Schemel Forum director and senior fellow for international, civic and cultural affairs at The University of Scranton. "The collaboration between these two ‘rising stars,' one Arab and one Jewish, is a living symbol of how the arts in general and music in particular can foster constructive and creative relationships, even in the midst of an atmosphere fraught with conflict. We are proud to bring Enas and Shalev and The Beauty of the Baroque to the Northeastern Pennsylvania audience."
Ad-El, a native of Israel, is a graduate of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Netherlands. He has performed as a soloist with many leading orchestras in Israel, including the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
He is the founder of the Oslo Baroque Soloists choir, and has conducted the ensemble in festivals in various international festivals. He also served as regular guest conductor at the Philharmonic Orchestra of Halle/Saale, Germany.
Ad-El has made numerous recordings for international labels and performs regularly with various ensembles, including Il Gardellino and The Dorian Consort, and has taught internationally.
In 2008, he became the first non-German to receive the prestigious FASCH-AWARD for his lifelong contribution to the revival of central-German baroque music.
Massalha, also a native of Israel, is a graduate of the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music. She has performed with members of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and with Arab musicians at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Her many operatic roles include Papagena and the First Lady in Die Zauberflote, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice and Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore, and she created the role of the Painter in Half a Moon Tale. Massalha has moderated master classes for Arab and Jewish children, and worked with Palestinian children on the first Palestinian production of the musical Fawanis. She has also participated in many festivals in Israel and abroad.
The Schemel Forum was founded in 2006 through generous gifts to the Reverend George J. Schemel, S.J., Fund by friends and admirers of the late Jesuit educator. The purpose of the fund is to support cultural enrichment and education initiatives for the region.
For more information on these events or to make reservations, call Kym Balthazar Fetsko at 941-7816 or email fetskok2@scranton.edu or Sondra Myers at 941-4089.
