Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the first concert of the Shuffle Ensemble’s Israeli tour. This 6-person ensemble is a fun and revolutionary concert experience.
The concept is simple. When you’re at the gym, taking a walk in the park or looking for music at work and you can’t make up your mind about what to listen to, you hit the shuffle button. At least that’s what I do. In my iPod that generally means Tchaikovsky will be followed by Green Day, followed by Paul Simon. Now take that shuffle button on your MP3, and apply it to a live performance with immensely talented musicians.
Shuffle Concert in Tel Aviv
When you walk into a Shuffle concert, you’re handed a ‘menu’ with more than 40 different pieces of music, ranging from baroque to jazz, opera to Disney. Each menu has a number on it. Throughout the concert, the musicians call out random numbers and if you’re number is called, you get to pick the next song! Simple as that, the audience picks the play list.
Shuffle is composed of Mary Mackenzie (Soprano), sisters Moran (Clarinet) and Linor (Cello) Katz, David McCarrol (Violin), Jessica Pearlman (Oboe) and Eliran Avni (Piano and creative director). Watching this group perform on stage is always a joy. Not only because the music is excellent and keeps you on your toes, but because it is so apparent how much they enjoy being up there and performing together. You can see the smiles as they play, cheer each other on, and make jokes with the audience.
If you have any spare time this week, I highly recommend going to see this talented ensemble at their best. You missed the first show but there are more opportunities. Shuffle will be performing at:
The Felicija Blumenthal Music Center
Wednesday, 20 June 2012 08:30 PM
@ Tel Aviv, Israel
http://www.fbmc.co.il/en/contact.aspx
Mishmar Ha’Emek
Friday, 22 June 2012 09:00 PM
@ Mishmar Ha’Emek, Israel
The Felicija Blumenthal Music Center
Saturday, 23 June 2012 12:00 PM
@ Tel Aviv, Israel
The Herzelia Performing Arts Center
Saturday, 23 June 2012 09:15 PM
@ Herzelia, Israel
If you love Shuffle as much as I do, then consider donating to their cause. They are raising money to record their first album including never-before-heard works composed especially for Shuffle!
