Friday Music Series Spring 2018
SPRING 2018
Friday, February 2, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
GU Chamber Singers
WITH MODERN MUSICK
Jesuit Heritage Week 2018
The Georgetown University Chamber Singers, under the direction of Prof. Frederick Binkholder, perform with the early music ensemble-in-residence Modern Musick as part of Jesuit Heritage Week 2018. The program features the Mass nr. 4 in F (1790) by Johann Melchior Dreyer (1747-1824), who studied at the Jesuit Gymnasium in Ellwangen, and composed a great amount of music for the church. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, February 9, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Huda Asfour, oud
Kamyar Arsani, daf
In partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
A Palestinian oud player and an Irani Daf player explore the region’s rich musical repertoire. The duo delves into the universe of Mashriq rhythms to create a transcending musical and vocal dialogue, influenced by the zaar, sufi thikr and more. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, February 16, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Lubana Al Quntar, soprano
Eylem Basaldi, violin
April Centrone, percussion and oud
From Syria with Love
In partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Syria is one of the global centers of traditional Arabic music—with origins of its rich musical heritage evident from the clay tablets (cuneiform scripts) in the ancient city of Tell Hariri, to the discover of the Hurrian hymn, the oldest surviving substantially complete work of notated music in history, in the northern city of Canaanite in the Ugarit kingdom. Bridging centuries, this program highlights the creative brilliance of Syria through Syriac music sung in Aramaic (language of Christ); a variety of Muwashahat (strophic songs sung in classical Arabic) from Aleppo; and folk song cycles originally sung by women at gatherings in Damascus. Lubana Al Quntar, acclaimed vocalist of opera and traditional Arabic song who became the first Syrian opera singer to attain international recognition, has performed as part of the Silk Road Festival in Tokyo, and at the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in DC. She headed the Syrian National Conservatory’s Department of Opera Singing and launched the Department of Classical Arabic Singing, and came to the U.S. in 2012. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, February 23, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Jorge Glem, cuatro
With support from the Doyle Film and Culture Series
2018 Grammy-nominated cuatro player Jorge Glem hails from Cumaná, Venezuela, and has shared the stage with world-renowned musicians such as Paquito D’Rivera. He is also a three-time Latin Grammy nominee with his ensemble C4Trio, and fuses the cuatro, a traditional stringed instrument, with genres such as jazz, salsa, bluegrass, rock, and pop. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, March 16, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
amy K Bormet’s Ephemera with Isabel Escalante and ana barreiro
Part of the Washington Women in Jazz festival
Amy K Bormet’s Ephemera began as an experiment to combine the composer’s love of poetry and art song with improvisation, and has grown to incorporate 21st-century composed music, free jazz, and folk music of the world. Bandleader pianist/vocalist Bormet carves out a space for musicians of different genres to explore through her compositions and the ensemble’s collective arrangements.
Venezuelan violinist Isabel Escalante performs internationally as a classical musician, and now turns her attention to interpreting jazz and folk music of the world. Driven by the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, Isabel created “Together in Music,” a series of concerts to raise awareness, give financial support, and donate food/medical supplies to families.
Ana Barreiro is a jazz drummer based in Los Angeles who carries her Brazilian roots to myriad musical spaces. Originally from Poços de Caldas, a town in the Southeast of Brazil, she was awarded a Latin America Scholarship from Berklee College of Music, and received her master’s degree from University of Southern California.
Program includes selections of new music and poetry from Venezuela, Brazil, and Los Angeles. Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, March 23, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Jerome Barry, baritone
Edvinas Minkstimas, piano
Songs of the Soul of the Jewish People
Program features selections of Eastern European Jewish melodies, songs and arrangements for piano with voice. Baritone Jerome Barry has performed with the Boston Pops, the Baltimore and National Symphonies, and gave the first concert at The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994. Pianist Edvinas Minkstimas is a Steinway Artist and winner of numerous international piano competitions, and serves as Artist in Residence of the Embassy Series and The Phillips Collection Music Series in Washington and Chair of Piano Department at the Washington Conservatory of Music. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, April 6, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Betsayda Machado & Parranda El Clavo
Betsayda Machado is the voice of Venezuela. Raised in the small village of El Clavo in the region of Barlovento, her recent rural recordings with lifelong friends Parranda El Clavo brought new attention to the Venezuelan Afro-Soul genre “Tambor,” a spirit-shaking percussion and voice fiesta, said to make dancers float. After their New York City debut in January 2017, New York Times’ Jon Pareles called Betsayda and Parranda: “The kind of group that world-music fans have always been thrilled to discover: Vital, accomplished, local, unplugged, deeply rooted.” The ensemble is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, April 13, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Ozan Aksoy, vocals and the bağlama (long-necked lute)
Music from Anatolia
In partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Ozan Aksoy performs instrumental and vocal musical examples from the rich and diverse traditions that have made their homes in Anatolia and the Middle East. The program will feature music from Turkish, Kurdish, Alevi, Armenian, Arabic, and Persian folk and urban repertoires. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, April 20, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Kareem Roustom
In partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Syrian-American composer Kareem Roustom has been active on the international music scene for over a decade having written commissioned works for the Kronos Quartet, Daniel Barenboim and many others. He has even written arrangements for Shakira and Beyonce, and his work in film has earned him an Emmy nomination. Roustom has been described by The Chicago Tribune as “a gifted and accomplished artist…one of the most prominent active Arab-American composers,” and by BBC Radio 3’s classical music host, Tom Service, as “among the most distinctive [composers] to have emerged from the Middle East.” This program will feature three chamber works that are at once rooted in tradition but very much looking forward. As has been the case with much of Roustom’s music since 2011, each of these works focuses on the devastating violence in his native Syria offering a wide range of emotions from anger, to mourning and to hope. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Friday, April 27, 2018 at 1:15 p.m.
Darwish Dancing with Takht Ensemble
In partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Khaled AlMaoulaoui, is a Syrian Dervish dancer and acclaimed percussionist hailing from a family of Sufi performers. Khaled will be accompanied by a traditional Takht ensemble (Middle Eastern orchestra), including Huda Asfour, oud and qanoun, Kamyar Arsani, daf and Chakib Hillali on oud and Nay. The ensemble will present traditional Sufi and Syrian musical repertoire. Whirling dervish dance is a form of Sama or physically active meditation which originated among Sufis, emphasizes universal love, peace, acceptance of various spiritual paths and a mystical union with the divine, the dancing of whirling dervishes, who originated in the 13th century as followers of the poet and Muslim mystic, Rumi. The Georgetown University Friday Music Series features acclaimed artists in free concerts at 1:15 p.m. on select Fridays.
McNEIR HALL, NEW NORTH BUILDING
FREE
Past Performances