Celtic Grace
AurÃ©ole: A halo; a light or luminous area surrounding a  celestial body.Critics and audiences alike hail AurÃ©ole as "radiant," "exquisite,"  "masterful," "performing with uncommon brilliance."This unique blend of instruments -- consolidating the entire  orchestral palette into its three essential components -- performs with an  infinite array of colors and sounds.The variety and scope of AurÃ©ole's repertoire appeals to audiences of  all ages and backgrounds. The trio's music ranges from the late 19th  century, spans the 20th, and ventures into the 21st century's cutting  edge.Their concerts and recordings also include a wide variety of popular  and folk music from the Celtic, Latin, Indian, baroque and classical  traditions. Inspired by the combination, some of the most imaginative and  creative musicians and composers of our time -- Ravi Shankar, George  Tsontakis, Jacob Druckman and Roberto Sierra-- have masterfully composed  and arranged for AurÃ©ole.The repertoire also includes many significant and powerful works by  twentieth century composers, including Claude Debussy, Sofia Gubaidulina,  Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Sir John Tavener, Toru Takemitsu, Harrison  Birtwistle and Kaiji Saariaho.AurÃ©ole was formed in the fall of 1987, after playing together at  Marlboro Music Festival.They have performed for the Saint Louis and Chicago Chamber Music  Societies, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the  National Gallery in Washington, DC, in honor of the opening of the Barnes  Exhibition, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to open the Cezanne  retrospective. In addition AurÃ©ole has participated in many  artist-in-residence programs around the country.AurÃ©ole has performed on A&E; Television Network's "Holiday in New  York," on the Bravo television network, and has been interviewed and  featured frequently on NPR's "Performance Today."AurÃ©ole has recorded extensively for Koch International Classics to  great critical acclaim. Their debut disc, "AurÃ©ole," was short-listed for  three Grammy awards, and their lullaby disc, "Dreamscape", with soprano  Heidi Grant Murphy, was selected by Parenting Magazine as Recording of the  Month.In addition, the trio has released six other discs, with two more --  Celtic music and a collection of new programmatic compositions -- to be  released in 2006-07.Individually the members of AurÃ©ole (Laura Gilbert, flute, Mary  Hammann, viola, and Stacey Shames, harp) have active solo and chamber music  careers, appearing as members and guests with such ensembles as Musicians  From Marlboro, Orpheus, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the  Brandenburg Ensemble, The Bach Aria Group, the Brentano and St. Lawrence  Quartets, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.