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Barrage: Classical that rocks! |
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Written by Lindsay Robinson, For NEXTnc
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Thursday, 16 November 2006 |
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For NEXTnc
Barrage is a collection of musicians from around the country and world who bring a different take on what you can do with violins. They’ll bring their show “Barrage” to the Union Colony Civic Center in Greeley.
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The violinists of Barrage are a little confused. They seem to think they’re rock stars. They dance around on stage doing lead-guitarist-style jumps and saw away on their instruments, creating the high-energy, dance-in-your-chair music of a rock band.
Then again, maybe they’re not so confused after all.
Barrage, based out of Canada, is an all-around performance group. It features six violinists and a back-up band with everything from guitars to drums to keyboard. While rocking away on their instruments, the performers even manage to sing and dance.
“It’s very dynamic,” said one of Barrage’s producers and creators, Tony Moore. “Basically you have six violinists that are on wireless microphones and it’s a choreographed show so they’re bounding all over the stage…It’s a very athletic performance — that’s what gets the energy across.”
And don’t be fooled — the music of Barrage is nothing like the pretty-but-sometimes-boring classical arrangements you might associate with violinists. Barrage plays everything from rock to folk to disco.
“(We play) music from all over the world, everything you can imagine,” Moore said.
The upcoming show in Greeley, titled “Barrage,” will showcase the group’s musical diversity.
“It’s an exploration of world music, throughout the ages and throughout many cultures, the hook being that it’s all being performed by the violin,” Moore said.
Barrage was created in 1996 by Moore and three other violin players and teachers.
They had formed an amateur group to explore musical styles other than classical on the violin. The experiment was so successful the creators decided to make a professional version to help classical violin students dip their bows in different musical genres.
Now Barrage tours 30 weeks out of the year. The group’s current musicians hail from places as diverse as Texas, Canada and England. Year-round auditions are held around the globe.
Moore encouraged people to see Barrage when the group comes to Greeley.
“It’s something unique and a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s an all-ages show and something that kids enjoy because it’s so high-activity, and old people tend to enjoy it as well because it’s got the underpinnings of something more traditional.”
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TO GO TO THE SHOW
• Barrage
• 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 17
• Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave., Greeley
• Tickets: $14, $18, $24 or $45
• 356.5000 or visit www.ci.greeley.co.us/uccc/
• www.barrage.org | Only registered users can write comments.
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