THOUSAND OAKS, CA - Areté Vocal Ensemble will open its third season at California Lutheran University with a concert program that ranges from the Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary composers.

"Bach and Beyond, Part 1" will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in Samuelson Chapel.

The goal of “Bach and Beyond” is to make a relevant connection between the timeless cantatas of J.S. Bach and new music by living composers.

This first concert pairs J.S. Bach’s famous cantata “Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79” (“God the Lord is Sun and Shield”) with a new cantata composed for Areté by East Coast composer Kevin Jay Isaacs titled “On The Nature Of:” The new piece is scored for voices, alto saxophone, piano and percussion. The men of Areté will also perform “evening morning day” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang.

Areté is an innovative professional ensemble of vocal artists in residence at the Thousand Oaks university. Music Director and Conductor Wyant Morton, CLU's music department chair, created the ensemble to perform and record the widest possible choral repertoire, including works from essentially all periods of music history. Special attention is given to contemporary, experimental, improvisatory, crossover and ethnic music.

The ensemble was designed to fill a need in Southern California for groups that can perform the many vocal works that visionary composers are creating today. Areté, which takes its name from the Greek word meaning striving for excellence, focuses on performing the new, the unknown and the unconventional with energy, passion, expertise and virtuosity.

The chapel is located south of Olsen Road near the corner of Campus Drive in Thousand Oaks. Additional parking is available at the corner of Olsen and Mountclef Boulevard.

Tickets purchased in advance are $20, $15 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for students with ID. Tickets purchased at the door are an additional $5. Children under 12 are free. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.aretevocalensemble.org, email aretevocalensemble@me.com or call 805-493-3308.