The Blind Boys of Alabama have the rare distinction of being recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators. They are not just gospel singers borrowing from old traditions; the group helped to define those traditions in 20th century and almost single-handedly created a new gospel sound for the 21st. Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s (including Jimmy Carter, who leads the group today), the band has persevered through seven decades to become one of the most recognized and decorated roots music groups in the world.

The Blind Boys’ live shows are roof-raising musical events that appeal to audiences of all cultures, as evidenced by an international itinerary that has taken them to virtually every continent. The Blind Boys of Alabama have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 75 years and shows no signs of diminishing.

The Company features contemporary, modern, and jazz dance of Spring theme and motif, while additionally featuring classical ballet excerpts of Swan Lake. Micah and Yellie Chermak present their choreography along with the Reif Dance Senior dancers and local guest artists.

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Derina Harvey leads the award-winning Celtic Rock group the Derina Harvey Band (dHb). With a show that offers a fresh take on traditional folk songs as well as a few originals, Derina’s vibrant personality takes center stage with humor, storytelling, and, of course, her powerful vocals. dHb has been likened to a “rockier” version of Canada’s Great Big Sea, if fronted by Adele, and has earned a reputation as a high-energy live show that leaves many an audience out-of-breath and hollering from their seats!

Everyone has pretended to be a pirate at some point. Set sail with this classic comedy that boasts one of the most famous patter songs in musical theatre history. On the coast of Cornwall, a band of tenderhearted pirates celebrates the coming of age of Frederic, who was mistakenly apprenticed to the pirates until his 21st birthday. Now, Frederic has vowed to devote his life to the extermination of piracy - until a ludicrous leap year snag threatens to keep him apprenticed to the pirates for life! Throw in a bevy of beauties, a brash Pirate King, the delightfully stuffy Major-General Stanley and you’ve got what The New York Times calls “AN ENDEARING PRODUCTION WITH HIGH MUSICAL STANDARDS AND SPIRITED PERFORMANCES.”

Reif Theater Arts presents Annie Jr. for students in 1st through 12th grade. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. Annie is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan. Annie eventually foils Miss Hannigan’s evil machinations, finding a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

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Singer, rapper, and writer Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. She contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape and the RBG documentary; her track, “Congratulations,” has notched over 20 million streams. As a writer, she’s been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, 2018) in addition to two literary collections. As a speaker, Dessa has delivered keynote speeches and presentations on art, science, and entrepreneurship; guest lectures at universities and colleges across the US; and a TED Talk about her science experiment on how to fall out of love. She’s also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. Dessa has been covered by Pitchfork, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal amongst others. The LA Times says she “sounds like no one else.” NPR’s All Songs Considered calls her “a national treasure.” On the stage and on the page, Dessa’s style is defined by ferocity, wit, tenderness, and candor.

The Ensamble 7/4 is born out of the friendship of seven young members of El Sistema (the National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela), who came together to extend the boundaries of academic music to include Venezuelan folk music, Latin American music and jazz. Their aim is to continue performing with the high technical and artistic standards they have achieved as a result of their education at El Sistema, and to disseminate Venezuelan folk music worldwide, making it synonymous with excellence.

In seven years as a group, they have toured both in Venezuela and internationally in countries such as Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States.

WHAT IS THE CELLO SONGS PROJECT?
The Cello Songs Project features new arrangements of folk/pop/rock gems from Jonatha Brooke’s rich catalogue, plus new songs composed specifically for this project.

The Cello Songs Project is acclaimed singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke, and Rebecca Arons, cellist and producer. Both transplants from Massachusetts to the rich Minneapolis music scene, Jonatha and Rebecca have been collaborating since early workshops of Jonatha’s award-winning off-Broadway show, My Mother Has Four Noses. Jonatha and Rebecca also co-produced Jonatha’s 2016 release, Imposter.

Featuring Jonatha Brooke: voice, guitar, piano, mandolin, kalimba
Rebecca Arons: cello