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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

  • The nine members of Roomful of Teeth, with three of the vocalists sitting on a bench and flanked by three standing singers on each end, pose for a photo in front of a wood-plank wall.
  • All nine members of Roomful of Teeth—eight singers and the artistic director—stand in front of a corrugated metal wall and smile for the camera.

Roomful of Teeth

7:30 pm Thursday, November 17, 2016

Roomful of Teeth is a Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble dedicated to mining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study with masters from traditions the world over, the eight-voice ensemble continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques, and through an ongoing commissioning process, it forges a new repertoire without borders. The group has studied Tuvan and Inuit throat singing, yodeling, belting, Korean P’ansori, Georgian singing, Sardinian cantu a tenore, Hindustani music, and Persian classical singing.

A New York Times reviewer calls the ensemble’s eponymously titled debut album, released in 2012, “sensually stunning.”

In 2013, octet member Caroline Shaw received the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Partita for 8 Voices, which was included on the album.

“Experimentation may be this group’s calling card,” writes a Boston Globe reviewer, “but its essence is pure joy.”

The program includes Shaw’s Partita for 8 Voices and other works.

Roomful of Teeth vocalists Estelí Gomez and Shaw will be the featured speakers in a post-performance discussion with audience members.

Adult $42
University Park Student $15
18 and Younger $32

Create your own Choice series, and save 10 percent, by purchasing tickets to four or more eligible events in one transaction.

sponsor
Eileen Leibowitz

media sponsor
WPSU

Artist Websites: 

Secondary Events on Each Event

Classical Coffeehouse
featuring Roomful of Teeth

8:00 pm Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Hintz Family Alumni Center’s Robb Hall

Free for University Park Students


$5 donation suggested for each community member

Roomful of Teeth will share excerpts of its work, demonstrate vocal techniques from around the world with participation from the audience, and reflect on the group’s intercultural research. The Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble incorporates elements of Tuvan and Inuit throat singing, yodeling, Korean P’ansori, Persian singing, Hindustani music, and more.

Refreshments will be served. Each attendee receives a Classical Coffeehouse mug, while supply lasts. Each Penn State student in attendance receives—at the end of the coffeehouse—a voucher for a serving of Berkey Creamery ice cream.

Seating is limited.

Presented by the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and Penn State Alumni Association in partnership with the Council of LionHearts and the Blue & White Society.

Donations help to sustain the coffeehouse series.