Music pursues peace by its humanizing effect. When we listen to great music from a great civilization, we can hear the expressive soul of its culture. Put two musical cultures together and we immediately recognize their shared humanity.
In this concert, clarinetist Mara Plotkin teams up with the Circadian String Quartet, composers Noam Lemish and Sahba Aminikia, along with guest performers Anne Rainwater (piano) and Christa Durand (soprano), to explore the musical soul of two cultures: Iran and Israel.
The program includes two richly evocative pieces by Iranian-born composer Sahba Aminikia, "Winter's Leaving" and String Quartet No. 2; One Day; Tehran, which puts us in the middle of the street protests after the 2009 Iranian Presidential election. We will also hear the U.S. premier of Noam Lemish's sumptuous quintet for clarinet and strings, Bakesh Shalom Ve’rodfeyou (Pursue Peace), along with the world premier of Lemish’s song cycle Music Master, featuring settings of the Persian poet Jalaluddin Rumi in collaboration with soprano Christa Durand and David Ryther on violin. Prokofiev's beloved "Overture on Hebrew Themes" rounds out the program.
This concert presents the fruitful possibilities of cross-cultural musical collaboration. Revel in the music’s expressive power, which takes us past political boundaries and straight to its inherent humanity.
Cost: $20