Ravinia 2024 Issue 2

rhythm called sudaasi . Dabké is an arrangement of the third movement of Kareem Roustom’s A Voice Exclaiming , a work for triple string quartet that was originally commissioned for the Kro- nos Quartet and Providence, RI-based Commu- nity MusicWorks. Dabké has been performed by a wide number of ensembles, ranging from professional orchestras such as the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Oregon Symphony Orchestras, Württembergische Phil- harmonie Reutlingen, Staatstheater Kassel Or- chestra (Germany), and Cyprus Symphony Or- chestra, to college and youth ensembles in the US and as far away as Malaysia, Morocco, Chile, and elsewhere. Dabké was also recorded by the Phil- harmonia Orchestra in London’s famed Abbey Road Studio One. It gives me great pleasure to see a work of mine continue to be performed almost 10 years after it was written and reaching across both geographical and generational boundaries. KINAN AZMEH (b. 1976) Ibn Arabi Postlude Scored for clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano or double bass When asked during an interview what the role of art is, Kinan Azmeh responded, “My personal philosophy is that you do art to experience emo- tions you don’t have the luxury of experiencing in real life.” That creative point of view expresses itself in what the New York Times has called the “intensely soulful” quality of Azmeh’s composi- tions. Born in Damascus, Syria, Azmeh followed music education to New York’s Juilliard School and on to the City University of New York, where he earned a doctorate in 2013. In high demand as both a performer and a com- poser, Azmeh has been commissioned by such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Seat- tle Symphony, The Knights, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Rider string quartet, and many others. He performs with his own Arabic/ Jazz quartet—the Kinan Azmeh CityBand—and his Hewar trio, and further as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble since 2012. With Yo-Yo Ma and Silkroad, Azmeh received a Grammy Award for the 2016 album Sing Me Home , on which he appears as clarinetist and composer. Kinan Azmeh’s program note for Ibn Arabi Post- lude is as follows: Ibn Arabi was an Arab Muslim mystic and phi- losopher, born in 1165 in Murcia and died in 1240 in Damascus. The piece is inspired by his life journey, his writings, and also by a school of thought in which love and freethinking are as sacred as religious beliefs are. This work, which can be best described as an obsessive ritualistic dance, enjoys a rather circu- lar form while maneuvering between persistent ideas and rhythms, allowing for the improvised and the composed to work seamlessly together. Ibn Arabi’s writings have inspired me for many years, and two of his most famous quotes be- came the springboard for this work: Hearing is the origin of existence … that every existent vibrates. السماع منشأ الوجود ، فإن كل موجود يهتز every scene that does not project the multiple in one sight, cannot be relied upon … every love that comes with a request, cannot be relied upon … every longing that is calmed by an encounter … cannot be relied upon. كل مشهد لا يريك الكثرة في العين الواحدة، لا يعول عليه كل حب يكون معه طلب، لا يعول عليه كل شوق يسكن باللقاء لا يعول عليه While these lines are not sung in this piece, this work became the final movement of a three-movement orchestral work, Ibn Arabi Suite , for singer, clarinet, and symphony orchestra. DINUK WIJERATNE (b. 1978) Clarinet Concerto Scored for strings, piano, and solo clarinet In interviews, Wijeratne has described his ar- tistic journey as a path to try and reconcile his identity, reflecting, “It was interesting growing up because I had this sense of multiple identities or no identity, it was like these two things were two sides of the same coin. And after a while I just thought, well, embrace this paradox.” Wi- jeratne was born in Sri Lanka and at the age of 4 moved to Dubai, where he lived until departing to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. After being invited directly by composer John Corigliano to join his studio, Wijeratne contin- ued his studies at the graduate level at The Juil- liard School. He then went on to study conduct- ing at Mannes College of Music and later earned his doctorate studying with Christos Hatzis at the University of Toronto. Wijeratne’s multi- faceted career has won him multiple awards, including a JUNO. Collaborations with artists and ensembles have included Yo-Yo Ma and the Silkroad Ensemble, Zakir Hussain, DJ Skratch Bastid, hip-hop artist Buck 65, the Toronto Sym- phony Orchestra, and numerous other orches- tras across Canada and the United States. Dinuk Wijeratne’s program note for his Clarinet Concerto is as follows: This concerto for clarinet is part autobiographi- cal immigrant story, part response to the Syrian conflict, and part exploration of the notion of “home.” Kinan Azmeh and I have been close friends and musical travelers since our student days at both The Juilliard School and International House, New York City. Our “Art of the Duo” project—a recital of original music for clarinet and piano— continues to take us to concert venues around the world. For me personally, our 2009 Middle East tour left an indelible impression. Particularly memorable were the two concerts in Kinan’s na- tive Syria, in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo. It seemed natural to me that this piece would become my response to what has transpired in Syria since that time. At the time of writing, the Syrian conflict has claimed 400,000 lives. Since the uprising began in 2011, over five million have fled their country as refugees, the Canadian gov- ernment having resettled over 40,000 Syrians. At the heart of this music is the question of how one might define—or be forced to redefine—the meaning of “home.” The solo clarinet represents “the traveler,” an in- dividual in turns either in line or at odds with their environment(s). The concerto has an ap- proximate duration of 27 minutes, comprising six episodes, which are designed to run into each other without interruption: Part I. Prologue: Foretelling is a dark musical dream-sequence. The clarinet, beginning off- stage, is heard in an anguished premonition of things to come. Part II. The Dance of Ancestral Ties celebrates a carefree childhood, with its essence deeply root- ed “at home” both geographically and socially. Part III. Flux destabilizes the traveler’s sense of security. There is a sense of dislocation. Part IV. Exile: The Salt of Bread and Rhythm is a desolate response to the essay “Reflections on Exile” by Edward Said, in which he quotes the poet Mahmoud Darwish. In Said’s words: “[Exile] is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted.” Part V. Cadenza: Solitary Traveler . The clarinet is left alone to play a cadenza, or solo passage. Part VI. Epilogue: Home in Motion . The travel- er learns to be “at home” everywhere. LEOŠ JANÁČEK (1854–1928) Idyll Scored for string orchestra Many years before joining Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák as one of the three most famous Czech composers in history, Leoš Janáček was an 11-year-old being taken by his parents nearly 100 miles from his hometown of Hukvaldy to RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 55