Saturday, August 16th at 7:00 pm at Fort Burgwin campus of SMU Taos

Wednesday, August 20th at 7:00 pm at Angle Fire Community Center

*ETHEL America s favorite string band WITH Special Guest

Flutist Robert Mirabal

ETHEL is musically omnivorous, prolific, and passionate, this band of four
world-class, Juilliard-trained, extraordinarily skilled composer/musicians will
keep you on the edge of your seat. Their performances are eclectic in style and
dynamic in practice, featuring works by members of the quartet and by prominent
composers from the vanguard of contemporary musical America. Ethel is a genre unto itself.

Cornelius Dufallo—violin
Ralph Farris—viola
Dorothy Lawson—cello
Mary Rowell—violin

Featuring:
Jeff Peterson—Hawaiian slack-key guitar
Robert Mirabal—Flute
Eva Ybarra—Tejano Conjunto accordionist
Dean Osborne—Banjo

ETHEL'S TRUCKSTOP™: THE BEGINNING
DIRECTED BY AND CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH ANNIE DORSEN
Oct 14, 16—18 at 7:30pm

BAM Harvey Theater
Running time: 90min, no intermission
Tickets: $20, 30, 40
Since 2007, the adventurous string quartet ETHEL has been seeking out homegrown virtuosos of the American vernacular in places like Lexington (Kentucky), San Antonio (Texas), and the Grand Canyon, all with a simple set of goals: listen, learn, and make music with them on their own turf. Ten cities, eleven months, and 40,000 miles later, ETHEL brings it all home—with a few new friends in tow—in ETHEL's TruckStop™: The Beginning, an electrifying celebration of American music at its most diverse.

Directed by Annie Dorsen (Broadway's Passing Strange) and featuring a virtual set composed of Kate Howard's documentary footage from ETHEL's travels, this work pairs the quartet’s signature hard-driving style with the singular sounds of four dazzling artists—a Texan queen of conjunto accordion (Eva Ybarra), a Grammy-winning Native American flutist from New Mexico (Robert Mirabal), a Grammy-winning Hawaiian slack-key guitarist (Jeff Peterson), and a bluegrass banjo legend from Kentucky (Dean Osborne)—for a raucous evening of cross-country musical collaboration, grown from the ground up.



Cornelius Dufallo—violin
Ralph Farris—viola
Dorothy Lawson—cello
Mary Rowell—violin

Featuring:
Jeff Peterson—Hawaiian slack-key guitar
Robert Mirabal—Flute
Eva Ybarra—Tejano Conjunto accordionist
Dean Osborne—Banjo

More on this show sholrly!

TAOS, NM— Whenever Native American superstar and Grammy Award-winner Robert Mirabal takes to the concert stage he uses the opportunity to engage the audience in making ceremony—ceremony to heal, honor, and bring blessings for a brighter day.

His new stage show, In the Blood, does just that, blending scenes from the American experience—past, present and future—with themes from contemporary Native life. Sung in both English and Tiwa, Mirabal’s native tongue, love songs merge with ghost songs that roll into Americana ballads and full-on tribal rockers.

To accompany this singular mix of Native roots, rock, jazz and electronica, a special video presentation, Spirits in the Blood, incorporates sweeping, timeless natural vistas with 21st century cityscapes and a heart-racing, mind-altering high-tech lightshow.

Using exquisite time-lapse photography, thunderheads build, lightning strikes, and clouds change the subtle light on a canyon wall. In a matter of seconds we see the sun’s year-long dance on the Eastern horizon, a rushing trout stream becomes a kaleidoscopic tapestry, and the stars in the heavens pulse out their cosmic message before streaking across the sky… all set to the music of Robert Mirabal.

On this heroic video canvas, produced and directed by Academy Award-winner Bill Mitchell, are painted the strong and sometimes fragile faces of the people of Taos Pueblo, who after a thousand years still practice the ceremonial life passed on to them by their ancestors. Using rare archival photographs, many seen here for the first time, Spirits in the Blood juxtaposes the ancient and modern worlds in an unforgettable way.

“This collection of songs and video reflect the traditional life I live at Taos Pueblo, and also the experiences of a man fortunate enough to travel the world,” says Robert Mirabal. “Many of these songs are sung in Tiwa, my native tongue, which is not a written language but passed orally from one generation to the next. If you live a traditional life, you see things differently—spiritually and musically. My music is informed by the ceremonial music I’ve heard all my life. What I create comes out of my body and soul in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth.”

New renditions of all-time Mirabal favorites like Medicine Man and The Dance shimmer beside new works like Brave New World, Pottery Shard Man and Holding up the Sky that ends with an 1866 quote from Sitting Bull. Guitar master Larry Mitchell provides the lightning for the quartet while Patrick Shendo Mirabal, Robert’s brother, adds his voice, percussion and sweet flute music. Paul Fowler joins in on keyboards and all manner of electronic effects while Robert drums, dances, sings and plays flute.

His ninth release overall and second on his own label, Star Road Records, Inc., (www.starroadrecords.com) In the Blood is Mirabal’s breakout, crossover CD. “This album honors Robert’s songs in a new way,” says Andy Byrd, the record’s producer, “making ceremony of performance and taking us on a techno-tribal journey that returns us to family, hope and love. You’ve never heard anything like it.”

Robert Mirabal has won many honors, including two-time Native American Artist of the Year, three-time Songwriter of the Year, and a 2006 Grammy Award for "Sacred Ground," Best Native American Album of the Year. His 2001 breakthrough PBS musical production, Music From a Painted Cave, remains a benchmark of Native American musical expression. Robert was voted “Best Male Artist” of the year at the 2007 NAMMYs.

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32nd Annual Seminole Tribal Fair & Powwow

FREE PERFORMANCE of "IN THE BLOOD" with the full Mirabal Band!

TAOS, NM (January 2008) — Whenever Native American superstar and Grammy Award-winner Robert Mirabal takes to the concert stage he uses the opportunity to engage the audience in making ceremony—ceremony to heal, honor, and bring blessings for a brighter day.

His new stage show, In the Blood, does just that, blending scenes from the American experience—past, present and future—with themes from contemporary Native life. Sung in both English and Tiwa, Mirabal’s native tongue, love songs merge with ghost songs that roll into Americana ballads and full-on tribal rockers.

To accompany this singular mix of Native roots, rock, jazz and electronica, a special video presentation, Spirits in the Blood, incorporates sweeping, timeless natural vistas with 21st century cityscapes and a heart-racing, mind-altering high-tech lightshow.

Using exquisite time-lapse photography, thunderheads build, lightning strikes, and clouds change the subtle light on a canyon wall. In a matter of seconds we see the sun’s year-long dance on the Eastern horizon, a rushing trout stream becomes a kaleidoscopic tapestry, and the stars in the heavens pulse out their cosmic message before streaking across the sky… all set to the music of Robert Mirabal.

On this heroic video canvas, produced and directed by Academy Award-winner Bill Mitchell, are painted the strong and sometimes fragile faces of the people of Taos Pueblo, who after a thousand years still practice the ceremonial life passed on to them by their ancestors. Using rare archival photographs, many seen here for the first time, Spirits in the Blood juxtaposes the ancient and modern worlds in an unforgettable way.

“This collection of songs and video reflect the traditional life I live at Taos Pueblo, and also the experiences of a man fortunate enough to travel the world,” says Robert Mirabal. “Many of these songs are sung in Tiwa, my native tongue, which is not a written language but passed orally from one generation to the next. If you live a traditional life, you see things differently—spiritually and musically. My music is informed by the ceremonial music I’ve heard all my life. What I create comes out of my body and soul in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth.”

New renditions of all-time Mirabal favorites like Medicine Man and The Dance shimmer beside new works like Brave New World, Pottery Shard Man and Holding up the Sky that ends with an 1866 quote from Sitting Bull. Guitar master Larry Mitchell provides the lightning for the quartet while Patrick Shendo Mirabal, Robert’s brother, adds his voice, percussion and sweet flute music. Paul Fowler joins in on keyboards and all manner of electronic effects while Robert drums, dances, sings and plays flute.

His ninth release overall and second on his own label, Star Road Records, Inc., (www.starroadrecords.com) In the Blood is Mirabal’s breakout, crossover CD. “This album honors Robert’s songs in a new way,” says Andy Byrd, the record’s producer, “making ceremony of performance and taking us on a techno-tribal journey that returns us to family, hope and love. You’ve never heard anything like it.”

Robert Mirabal has won many honors, including two-time Native American Artist of the Year, three-time Songwriter of the Year, and a 2006 Grammy Award for "Sacred Ground," Best Native American Album of the Year. His 2001 breakthrough PBS musical production, Music From a Painted Cave, remains a benchmark of Native American musical expression. Robert was voted “Best Male Artist” of the year at the 2007 NAMMYs.
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2008 GRAMMY Award-Winner, Robert Mirabal, Brings Music, Storytelling, and Cultural Exchange to The Boulder Theater

Concert blends Americana roots with world music, jazz, classical, and poignant storytelling for unique theatrical experience

TAOS, NM (February 2008) — Whenever Grammy Award-winner Robert Mirabal takes to the concert stage he uses the opportunity to engage the audience in making ceremony—to heal, honor, and bring blessings for a brighter day.

Adding a visual element to this singular mix of Americana roots, world music, jazz, classical and storytelling, a special video presentation, “Spirits in the Blood,” features sweeping, timeless natural vistas with 21st century cityscapes and a heart-racing, mind-altering high-tech lightshow. Using exquisite time-lapse photography, thunderheads build, lightning strikes, and clouds change the subtle light on a canyon wall. In a matter of seconds we see the sun’s year-long dance on the Eastern horizon, a rushing trout stream becomes a kaleidoscopic tapestry, and the stars pulse out their cosmic message… all set to the music of Robert Mirabal.

On this heroic video canvas, directed by Academy Award-winner Bill Mitchell, are painted the strong and sometimes fragile faces of the people of Taos Pueblo, who after a thousand years still practice the ceremonial life passed on to them by their ancestors. Using rare archival photographs, many seen here for the first time, “Spirits in the Blood” juxtaposes the ancient and modern worlds in an unforgettable way.

Joining Mirabal on stage will be keyboardist extraordinaire (and Boulder resident), Paul Fowler. A classically trained vocalist and composer, Fowler’s compositions have been performed around the world including at the Borealis Festival of Norway, Japan’s Suntory Hall, the Belgium International Marimba Festival, the Kennedy Center, and NYC’s MATA festival. 2007 brought premieres by the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and Taiwan’s Ju Percussion Group.

“This collection of songs, stories and video reflect the traditional life I live at Taos Pueblo, and also the experiences of a man fortunate enough to travel the world,” says Robert Mirabal. “If you live a traditional life, you see things differently—spiritually and musically. My music is informed by the ceremonial music I’ve heard all my life. What I create comes out of my body and soul in a desire to take care of the spirits of the earth.”

Mirabal has won many honors, including two-time Native American Artist of the Year, three-time Songwriter of the Year, and a 2006 Grammy Award for "Sacred Ground," Best Native American Album of the Year. His 2001 breakthrough PBS musical production, Music From a Painted Cave, remains a benchmark of Native American musical expression.

On February 10, 2008, Mirabal won his second GRAMMY Award for “Johnny Whitehorse Totemic Flute Chants,” Best Native American Album of the Year.