Syrian clarinetist and visual artist collaborate on La Jolla phase to examine the plan of ‘home’
4 min read
Syrian clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh vividly remembers watching the 2011 uprising in his homeland on Television set from New York. The violent government response left several dead and began a large exodus of refugees.
“I simply cannot describe the magnitude of that,” mentioned Azmeh, who turned an American citizen last calendar year. “I was not in a position to compose for a calendar year. I ongoing to perform — which is how I fork out my lease. But it severely impacted my creative system.”
Azmeh broke his undesired hiatus by composing a one track, “A Sad Morning, Every Early morning,” which he shared with visual artist Kevork Mourad, his longtime good friend.
Mourad, an Armenian-Syrian American, animated the music, which can be located on YouTube. “A Sad Morning” was the cornerstone of what turned “Home Within,” a distinctive collaboration of audio and visual artwork developed dwell onstage.
The La Jolla Songs Culture is bringing “Home Within” — a person of two Silkroad Ensemble tours this time — to the Baker-Baum Live performance Corridor at La Jolla’s Conrad Prebys Undertaking Arts Heart on Sunday, April 3.
In an unconventional format, Azmeh and 5 other Silkroad musicians will conduct as Mourad operates at an easel, with his drawings projected on the screen powering them.
“Syria impressed ’Home Within,’ but this job encourages investigating the much larger thought of ‘home,’” Azmeh mentioned. “Is home the position you grew up and have reminiscences of? Or is it a position you’d like to add to?
“I’ve generally mentioned Syria belongs to all of humanity. The occasions in Ukraine, visually there are similarities. Tragedies do repeat.”
Silkroad Ensemble member Kinan Azmeh performs on clarinet.
(Piotr Poloczanski)
‘Deep emotions’
The Silkroad musicians accompanying Azmeh and Mourad are bassist Shawn Conley, cellist Karen Ouzounian, oud participant Issam Rafea, percussionist Shane Shanahan and violinist Layale Chaker. Chaker and Azmeh are married and stay in Brooklyn, N.Y. They acquire their 1-year-old son with them on tour.
Azmeh explained it took about a year for him and Mourad to make the piece from the 3½-minute “Sad Morning.” Sections of the piece are improvised.
“I’m a collaborator,” explained Azmeh, who on March 15 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the Countrywide Council on the Arts. “Part of it is pushed by the clarinet, which is a one-line instrument. If I want to harmonize, I will need an additional player.
“Music is distinctive in that we can all talk and listen to just about every other at the same time. I did generate the music for this but gave time for the musicians to deliver their personal tales. Not just the musicians — Kevork will say a little something. I like to play with the fantastic line among composer and improviser.”
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Azmeh, who performed in San Diego in 2019 with the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, acknowledged that the tragic problem from which “Home Within” springs “puts me back in deep thoughts every time we perform it. We hope it will open up a window to examine much more. Our occupation to make artwork, but also to document heritage.”
“I hope a person in the audience is from Ukraine,” he included. “The live performance ends on an optimistic be aware. I feel we can rebuild something. Art can heal the human soul.”
What is Silkroad?
Azmeh and Mourad are longtime members of the Silkroad Ensemble, the executing component of Silkroad, which was launched in 1998 by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma. He saw the heritage of the ancient Silk Road trade route linking Asia and Europe as a model for exchanging concepts and improvements.
Silkroad has 4 tunes-oriented components: creation of new songs, social impact initiatives, academic partnerships and the Silkroad Ensemble, a numerous collective that performs worldwide.
In 2017, the ensemble gained a environment tunes Grammy Award for the album “Sing Me Property,” which features Azmeh as a clarinetist and composer.
“Silkroad is a collective of communicators who assume greater than by themselves,” Azmeh stated. “Whether they perform, dance or do spoken term, they are all thinkers attempting to make feeling of the entire world.”
Silkroad Ensemble: ‘Home Within’
When: 7 p.m. Sunday, April 3
Exactly where: Baker-Baum Live performance Hall, Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Middle, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla
Value: $36-$70
Info: (858) 459-3728, ljms.org ◆
