MUSE/IQUE Announces Summer 2014 Schedule for Festival of Performances at Caltech's Beckman Mall Lawn

PASADENA, Calif., June 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MUSE/IQUE Artistic Director and Conductor Rachael Worby announced that Rusnak Auto Group and Audi of America will be title sponsors of the 2014 Summer of Sound.  As a result, this year's three-concert festival, curated around the theme of Break/Through, will be named the Rusnak Audi Summer of Sound.

The Rusnak Audi Summer of Sound will be comprised of three events featuring the full MUSE/IQUE orchestra and a wild cast of guest performers and distinguished artists and scientists.  This year's theme is Break/Through and each event will be created to give audiences an eye-popping and ear opening new perspective on familiar yet cherished themes. 

"The most basic elements of music making - voice, piano and dance – give us infinite moments of joy and connectedness," said Rachael Worby.  "This summer we're looking at how genius mixes with simplicity to reinvent these forms and create a whole new way to experience the world.  We'll see how Ella Fitzgerald reinvented song, how piano perpetually unlocks our imagination, and how tap dance tells us everything about human history.  It's going to be a thrilling ride."

In keeping with MUSE/IQUE's hallmark style of infusing location, community and art, each event will also feature a member of Caltech's science community in interactive presentations of music and breakthrough scientific ideas.

Dates and programs for the 2014 season are:

July 5:  Glass/Shattered:  Ella Invents Singing with Nnenna Freelon.
Everything that excites you about Rock, Rap and Blues was invented, on the fly, by Ella Fitzgerald.  Recall the revolution of song as Nnenna Freelon and our orchestra channel Ella through Ellington, Gershwin, and even Mozart!

August 9:  Keys/Unlocked:  The Irresistible Power of Piano.  We can't walk by a piano without pressing a key.  This summer, 5 furious talents, with 10 hands, 2 pianos, and 176 keys, tell us why.

September 6:  Earth/Quaked:  Dance Changes the World with Savion Glover.  Tap requires two instruments: the body and the earth.  This simplicity is a mischievous disguise for the whole beauty of human creation.  America's genius of dance joins our orchestra to show how it's done.

Pre-concert dining begins at 5:30 and the performances are at 7:30.  There are a variety of dining options:  guests can bring their own dinner, pre-order brasserie dinners from Perfect Equation Catering for on-site pick up at Beckman Mall Lawn, or order and pick up dinner from Gale's Restaurant or Smitty's Grill - MUSE/IQUE's restaurant partners.  Rusnak Audi Summer of Sound tickets range in price from $20 to $250 with MUSE/IQUE members getting the best seat locations and discounts.

In the three years since MUSE/IQUE was founded by a group of community leaders and Artistic Director Rachael Worby, it has grown from one performance with a handful of devoted followers to a major cultural presence that reaches a broad and diverse audience.  Its considerable membership currently numbers more than 500 people.  In addition to the summer, MUSE/IQUE presents its "Uncorked" series at unconventional locations in the fall and spring.

MUSE/IQUE's guest artists have included Jessye Norman, Charlie Haden, Patti Austin, Mary Wilson, Flea, The Doric Quartet, Rickie Lee Jones, Ellis Hall, Matt Haimovitz, Angela Bassett, Arturo Sandoval, Mona Tavakoli, Kevin McHale, Angela Bassett and more.  Pop-up venues for "Uncorked" have included the Rose Palace, Jacob Maarse Florists, The Castle Press - one of the nation's largest printing presses, Art Center College of Design, The Blacker House, Avon Distribution Center and others.  

Rusnak Audi Summer of Sound is held at Caltech's Beckman Mall Lawn, located at 332 S. Michigan Avenue.  For tickets and additional membership information, please call the Box Office at (626) 539-7085 or visit www.muse-ique.org.  For other information, contact Diane Reed at (626) 862-1111 or [email protected]

SOURCE MUSE/IQUE