Meet Jordan Sramek
Founder and Artistic Director

Jordan Sramek

photo: V. Paul Virtucio

"Director Jordan Sramek breathes life into the works..." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

"His research on . . . their recording, Slavic Holiday, was a revelation" (Early Music America Magazine)

"The voices are remarkably effective in various combinations. This group deserves to be known beyond the narrow boundaries of its home." (Goldberg Magazine, Spain)

"Jordan Sramek has brought these natural talents to a point of near-perfection in the careful performance and delivery of each selection, achieving a harmony that offers a spiritual dimension as well." (Columbus Dispatch)

Jordan Sramek is Founder/Artistic Director of The Rose Ensemble. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 1994, he has been active as a musician, scholar, teacher and arts entrepreneur.

Jordan studied early vocal performance and harpsichord at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth and through the years has spent time learning from such medieval music experts as Benjamin Bagby and Eric Mentzel of Sequentia, Dom. Daniel Saulnier at the Abbey of Solesmes (France), and Margriet Tindemans and Crawford Young.

"Because of the beauty of the music, the variety of the voices, the liveliness of the personalities...the performance was engaging from beginning to end." (Plain Dealer, Cleveland)

"Founder and artistic director Jordan Sramek, who also performs as a tenor within the group, does a masterful job of varying and balancing the program, as well as mixing and matching the various voices within the ensemble. Musically, the group is cohesive and expressive. They are constantly aware of one another. . . . Languages, too, are part of the variety of the group's sound. They perform in Latin, Polish, Russian and Czech, switching between them on a dime." (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

Now in frequent demand as teacher, coach and consultant, Jordan has led musical workshops and master-classes in universities across the U.S., and has advised arts groups, boards and administrators throughout the world. Through his work with The Rose Ensemble he has developed several award-winning educational programs, which are enjoyed by thousands of young people each year. Jordan has received several awards, most notably a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship for Performing Musicians and a Jerome Foundation Travel/Study Grant. The Rose Ensemble is a four-time nominee for a Minnesota Music Award (Best Classical Artist) and in 2005 the group was named recipient of the Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence.

Jordan Sramek is highly respected for his meticulous research of music rarely heard in the concert hall, and frequently travels to conduct this research, most recently visiting manuscript libraries in France, Ireland, Canada, Sweden and Hawaii. He has developed a keen and critically acclaimed programmatic sense that provides early music a comfortable home on concert stages across the U.S. and Europe.

Meanwhile, he has taken great care to ensure that his colleagues in The Rose Ensemble are just as passionate about early music and its rich history, and has assembled a group of musicians that excel in languages, scholarship, stage presence and ability. Under Sramek's leadership, The Rose Ensemble has flourished, creating a pure, dynamic sound across a variety of languages, and bringing to life a colorful tapestry of world cultures, religions and history through creative, compelling and entertaining concerts and recordings.