Once Upon a Time      
Issa Boulos
2001

Folk Songs, Set #1
Reza Vali
Chicago Premier
1999

Largo
Allegro
Lento
Molto Allegro
Scherzando
Largo
Molto Allegro

Consolation
David Schiff
Midwest Premier
2001

Open Secret
Behzad Ranjbaran
2000
Midwest Premier

Text: Rumi/Coleman Barks
Open Secret
Dance of Love
Dance of Light

Chicago Chamber Choir

Fulcrum Point would like to express our deepest thanks to Dr. Shakeela Hassan, Sheila King, Scott Appleby, and Rev. John Buchanan for their counsel and assistance in bringing this program together. 

Open Secret

How does a part of the world leave the world?
How can wetness leave water?
Don’t try to put out a fire by throwing on more fire?
Don’t wash a wound with blood!
Forget the world, and so command the world.
No matter how fast you run,
Your shadow more than keeps up.
Sometimes, it’s in front!
Only full, overhead sun
Diminishes your shadow.
But that shadow has been serving you!
You must have shadow and light-source, both.
What hurts you, blesses you.
Darkness is your candle.
Roar, lion of the heart, and tear me open.
 

Give me your soul, give me your life.
Inside you the soul roars like thunder,
Listen, and lay your head under the Tree of Awe.
The soul lives there in the silent Breath.

Dance of Love

In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you,
But sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.
You’re in my eyes how else could I see light?
When I see your face, I lose my place.

Dance of Light

Watch the dust grains moving
In the light near the window.
Their dance is our dance.
We rarely hear the inward music,
But we’re all dancing to it nevertheless.
You that love Lovers,
This is your home. Welcome!

Text used by permission of the publisher Rumi: Like This (Maypop, 1990) translated by Coleman Barks.

Fulcrum Point Ensemble

Stephen Burns, conductor
Molly Barth, flute/alto flute/piccolo
Peggy Michel, oboe
Dileep Gangoli, clarinets/bass clarinet
Tina Keitel, percussion
Kara Bershad, Harp
Sharon Polifrone, violin
Teresa Fream, violin
Claudia Lasereff-Mironoff, viola
Mark Brandfonbrener, cello
Collins Trier, bass

Chicago Chamber Choir Timm Adams, Director

SOPRANOS
Erica Beall
Mary Niedzwiecki 
Sarah Porretta
Erika Saltzman
Stephanie Vodopic

ALTOS:
Amy Butterer
Mary Fry
Margaret Imrie
Mae Pittman
Tracy Weisman

TENORS:       
Joe Bowen
Paul Fagen
Hunter Geye
William Meek

BASSES:
Timm Adams
Damon Fleming
Al Irwin
Erich Kurschat
Andrew Sudds

Bridging Cultures: Building Peace
How do you build a bridge across a raging torrent? Digging a caisson is deep and dirty work, but that is where the bedrock is found. This program digs deep into the essence of human experience; suffering and solace, praise and celebration, conflict and reconciliation, life and death. The music on this program is evocative of the songs and dances from the Middle East taken from Jewish and Arab cultures. Inspirational poems of transcendent clarity, visions of peace and prayers for understanding will provide powerful contexts for this great music illuminating the yearning, passion, and hope shared by both cultures.

We start with a musical form shared by all cultures—a lullaby.

Lullaby and Doina
This piece starts with a set of variations on a Yiddish lullaby that I composed for Sally Potter’s film The Man Who Cried. These variations were designed to work in counterpoint to another important musical theme in the sound track, the aria ‘Je crois entendre encore’ from Bizet’s Pearl Fishers. In her evocative film Sally explores the fate of Jews and Gypsies in the tragic mid-years of the twentieth century, through a love story between a young Jewish woman and a young Gypsy man. Accordingly, the theme of the lullaby here metamorphoses into a dense and dark doina (a gypsy slow, rubato genre) featuring the lowest string of the viola. The piece ends in a fast gallop, boasting a theme that I stole from my friends of the wild gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks. The theme is presented in an almost canonical chase where the clarinet pursues the flute-violin combination flying away.

Osvaldo Golijov
“Once Upon a Time” is a gentle, nostalgic rhapsody for harp and string quartet composed after the composer was force to flee his home in Ramallah. He describes it like this:

A world exists, within! I carry it along, and relentlessly attempt to restructure; while sorting it out! Exile, it is. And it has become a philosophical “homeland” made out of children songs, old trees, distant smiles, and aging neighborhoods. It has become the only “place” where I can be, and where “we” can be. A place where “places” have no meaning, only manifestations; and Once Upon A Time is a snap shot of the “exile” that lives within.

Issa Boulos
Folk Songs (Set No. 15) was commissioned by the Seattle Chamber Players and premiered in Seattle on May 23, 1999.  This is the fifteenth set of an ongoing cycle of Persian folk songs, which I have been writing since 1978.  The piece consists of seven movements each composed in the style of a folk song (imaginary folk song).  The thematic and motific material of all movements are inter related.  They reappear in the last movement, which acts as the summary of the entire composition.

Reza Vali
The seven movements in Folk Songs (Set No. 15) are an intense musical journey with each part featuring a different solo instrument and creating a distinctive atmosphere.
•The first movement is an impassioned dialogue between flute and cello over murmuring violin, clarinet and percussion. Using quartertones and ornate embellishments Vali evokes the intonation and improvisations of traditional Persian music.
•The second movement is a festive dance in 7/8 meter for piccolo, bass clarinet and field drum. As each voice enters to the state the main theme the beat is shifted to create an awkward Cubist sensibility.
•The third movement is an aching lament for cello suspended over flickering textures in the ensemble.
•The fourth movement is an intense battle with rapid fire percussive effects punctuated by cries of alarm and distress heard in close proximity.
•A quirky dance in triple meter the fifth movement is redolent of nature and tribal life. The grotesque solo bass clarinet line starts off with the loopy elegance of a camel before taking flight in a series of swirling spirals culminating in a virtuoso cadenza that defies the technical limits of this funky instrument.
•The most intimate of all the 6th movement is a plaintive meditation for violin and chimes utilizing the celestial purity of modal tonality, while the solo line’s quartertone intonations reflect a more human expressiveness.
•Joyful abandon infuses the last movement with such ecstatic exuberance that even when the cello tries to intone a more grounded melody over the bouncing rhythms the other instruments are compelled to join in with the same melody, but t

his time with elation. The ricochet rhythms from the 4th movement return, but this time more in celebration than in warfare.

Consolation is the middle movement from “Canti di Davide” a clarinet concerto composed for David Shifrin in memory of the great Jewish American pianist/conductor David Golub who divided his life between Italy and America. “Canti di Davide” is in one sense a musical journey with the Consolation expressing the both the flexibility of a jazz ballad and the virtuosity of a coloratura vocalise. The elegiac musical journey of “Canti di Davide” which begins in shock and turmoil, here finds peace in the Consolation. --David Schiff   

Open Secret concludes the evening with three movements inspired by the great Sufi mystic Rumi. Each movement celebrates the transcendent wisdom in discovering and appreciating the mystery of life inherent in every moment. As we try to reconcile years of suffering and build bridges of peace, trust and understanding it is important to heed the words of Rumi:  Don’t try to put out a fire by throwing on more fire? Don’t wash a wound with blood!
Bios:

Rabbi Philip J. Bentley
A native of the Chicago area, Rabbi Philip J. Bentley returns to his hometown after 36 years to accept the position of Interim Rabbi at Congregation Kol Ami.   Prior to this appointment, Rabbi Bentley was the Dean of Admissions and Student Life at the Academy for Jewish Religion in Riverdale, New York. His professional journey began at Shimer College in Waukegan, Illinois followed by obtaining degrees and becoming ordained at the Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Rabbi Bentley then served for 25 years at various congregations including New York's Temple Sholom and Temple Or-Elohim, and Curacao's Congregation Mikve Israel-Emanu-El Curacao. His former academic posts include Director of B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation at The University of Denver. From his articles and position papers to his lectures and letters, Bentley is a noted author with a clear and pure voice. As a social advocate known nationwide for his activism and pacifism, Bentley has also worked with the New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, The Reform Movement and the Jewish Peace Fellowship.  

Rabbi Bentley has many family members and friends in the Chicago area. He has been married to his wife, Phyllis, for 36 years and they have two sons, Shanan and Josh, who live in New York. He is a graduate of Senn High School. His family has been members of Temple Judea-Mitzpah, Temple Emanuel, and Temple Sholom.

Issa Boulos
(b Jerusalem, Palestine, 1968). Palestinian 'ud player, composer and teacher Issa Boulos comes from a family of both musical and literary traditions and began to study voice at the age of 7. At that early age, Issa showed extraordinary talent in singing Arab classical maqam  repertoire. At the age of 13 he entered the Institute of Fine Arts in Ramallah to study the 'ud with Abu Raw`hi 'Ibaidu. He graduated in 1985 and worked in Ramallah as an arranger of folksongs and a musician in the ensemble of Sariyyat Ramallah Dance Group and Released al-'Ashiq  in 1986, and in al-Ra`hhâla, with composer Jamil al-Sayih and Released  Rasif al-Madinah  in 1989.  During the 1990s, under the influence of newly developed musical trends, Boulos's career took a new direction. He pursued music composition in response to a contemporary concern for revolutionary cultural change and richer and more flexible responses to widely different dramatic requirements. He adopted the performance practices, educational principles and aesthetic values of Western art music while adapting his art to suit the sensibilities of Palestinian politicized taste and maintained a link with the maqam tradition by continuing its ancient line of oral transmission. From 1991 to 1993, Issa composed over 200 instrumental and vocal pieces and one large-scale work titled Kawkab Akhar. He was appointed director of Birzeit University's musical group Sanabil in addition to training al-Funoun Popular Dance Troupe and Sareyyet Ramallah Troupe for Music and Dance.

In 1994 he moved to Chicago, where he studied music composition at Columbia College Chicago with Gustavo Leone and Athanasios Zervas and later at Roosevelt University with Robert Lombardo and Ilya Levinson. In 1998 he co-founded the Issa Boulos Quartet, performing his original contemporary compositions that ranged from classical Arab compositions to jazz. After completing his Masters in 2000, he spent one year in his hometown where he was active as a composer, educator, 'udist, and instructor of Western theory, 'ud, chorus, ensemble and theory of Arab music at the National Conservatory of Music, Ramallah. Issa has given workshops and lecture-demonstrations at several American institutions and colleges. He is cofounder of Sama Music, leader of the al-Sharq Ensemble, the Boulos Ensemble and member in Lingua Musica, and has recently been appointed a part-time lecturer at University of Chicago  and director of the Middle East Ensemble.

His blend of tradition and innovation has forged important musical links between the Arab world and the West. Issa is currently involved with the Arab Classical Music Society (ACMC) that he established in 2003. The Society is launching an archive for Arab classical music and preparing for the release of the first volume of the Anthology of Arab Classical Music. As for his current personal projects, Issa is applying final touches on his new work Reef for kemence and percussion. It will be release later in the Spring of 2004.

M. Yaser Tabbara
M. Yaser Tabbara is Executive Director of the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Yaser is a Chicago attorney with an established record of serving our community. Previously, Yaser was the coordinator of the Iraq project at DePaul University College of Law, where he worked on rebuilding the legal education system in Iraq under the direction of Prof. M. Cherif Bassiouni. Prior to that, Yaser initiated the Post 9/11 Immigrant Legal Rights Project at the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center, where he provided free and low-cost legal representation, as well as outreach and education on immigration law and civil liberties to our community. More information can be found at www.cairchicago.org.

Osvaldo Golijov
Born in 1960, Osvaldo Golijov was raised in an Eastern European Jewish household in La Plata, Argentina, a provincial capital of half a million people about fifty kilometers from Buenos Aires. Born to a piano teacher mother and physician father, Golijov was raised surrounded in chamber classical music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the newtango of Astor Piazzolla.

He studied piano at the local conservatory and studied composition privately with Gerardo Gandini, subsequently moving in 1983 to Israel, where hestudied with Mark Kopytman at the Rubin Academy of Jerusalem and immersed himself in the colliding musical traditions of that city.

Upon moving in the United States in 1986, Golijov earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with George Crumb. In 1990, as a Fellow at theTanglewood Music Center, Golijov received Tanglewood’s Fromm Commission, resulting in Yiddishbbuk, which was premiered by the St. Lawrence String Quartet during Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music in July 1992. Working together with the St. Lawrence String Quartet was a turning point in Golijov’s musical life, as the SLSQ was the first group of players to dive into Golijov’s volatile and label-defying musical world and project it in its true, full form. In June 2002, EMI released "Yiddishbbuk," a CD of Golijov’s chamber music, celebrating 10 years of collaboration with the SLSQ, featuring Todd Palmer, Mark Dresser, Tara O’Connor, and the Ying Quartet. The CD was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

While at Tanglewood, Golijov became personally acquainted with the Kronos Quartet. This relationship, now a decade old, has become a central one to Golijov. One of his works, K’vakarat, was recorded later for Kronos and cantor Misha Alexandrovich. In 1997, Kronos and clarinetist David Krakauer recorded Golijov’s Klezmer-accented The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Golijov has collaborated on about 30 works with the Kronos Quartet, including a series of arrangements of music from all over the world. Eight of them appear in the CD Caravan and seven arrangements and one composition appear in Nuevo (nominated for a Grammy Award) both on the Nonesuch label.

In 2000, the premiere of Golijov’s St. Mark Passion took the music world by storm. It was commissioned by Helmuth Rilling for the European Music festival to commemorate the250th anniversary of J. S. Bach’s death. The piece featured the Schola Cantorum of Caracas, with the Orquesta La Pasion (especially assembled for this work by Golijov), together with percussionist Mikael Ringquist, all conducted by Maria Guinand. The Passion integrates the multiple manifestations of the Christian faith in Latin America (and Golijov’s own Jewish roots) in a musical universe, which critics and audiences in Europe and America alike praised for encompassing popular and classical idioms, acknowledging the past, and opening the door to a fruitful and communicative musical future. The Passion was given its U.S. Premiere by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and in Fall 2002.

Golijov has received numerous commissions, including those from the composer Hans Werner Henze on behalf of the city of Munich; the Spoleto USA Festival; New York’sLincoln Center; the Schleswig Holstein Music and Oregon Bach festivals, and the Boston Symphony. In addition, Golijov has been composer-in-residence at Merkin Hall in NewYork, the Spoleto USA Festival (1998 and 2002) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Music Alive series (2001-02). He is currently an Associate Professor at College of the HolyCross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he has taught since 1991; is on the faculties of the Boston Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center; and has beenComposer-in-Residence for Marlboro Music, Ravinia, and the Cape and Islands festivals. Golijov is also the recipient of many awards, including those given by New York’s Lincoln Center, Washington’s Kennedy Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts

Upcoming projects include commissions from Carnegie Hall and the Boston Symphony, works for Dawn Upshaw, the Kronos Quartet and a chamber opera for the Tanglewood Music Center to be premiered at Tanglewood (co-produced by the Boston Symphony, Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Philharmonic). His works are published by Ytalianna Music Publishing and recorded on Nonesuch, Sony Classical, Hanssler Classics, and EMI.

Behzad Ranjbaran
Ranjbaran's music has variously been described as "qualities of inherent beauty and strong musical structure that make it a satisfying musical entity" (Henry Arnold, Nashville Scene, about The Blood of Seyavash) and as having "radiant luminescence" (Cecelia Porter, The Washington Post, for Elegy for Strings). Ranjbaran's music has been performed in Europe, South America, Asia and throughout the United States.

Ranjbaran, born in Tehran, Iran, is the recipient of the Rudolf Nissim Award for his Violin Concerto. His musical education started early when he entered the Tehran Music Conservatory at the age of nine. He came to the United States in 1974, where he attended Indiana University and received his doctorate from the Juilliard School. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School. Named as "Distinguished Artist" by the New Jersey Council on the Arts, Ranjbaran's honors also include a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a grant from Meet the Composer (composer/choreographer project), and a Charles Ives Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In addition to Open Secret and Songs of Eternity, his recent compositions and commissions include: Symphony No.1; Seemorgh; The Blood of Seyavash, a full-length ballet; Ballade for solo double; Seven Passages, and Moto Perpetuo, for violin and string orchestra. Delos has recently released a CD of his Persian Trilogy by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

David Schiff
Since he composed Scenes from Adolescence in 1987, Schiff has worked to develop "an idiom that is jazz and rock, not just a nod to them." In addition to his work as a composer, he is also a renowned and prolific author, scholar, and critic, whose articles on music history appear frequently in the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, and other national periodicals.

David Schiff is the R.P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He grew up and was educated in New York City; B.A. in English Literature from Columbia University and the Ph.D. in composition from Juilliard. Composition studies with John Corigliano and Ursula Mamlok at the Manhattan School of Music, and Elliott Carter at the Juilliard School.

He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Merrill Foundation, and others. He won the 1979 ISCM League of Composers National Composers Competition for his Elegy for string quartet, and was granted the ASCAP Deems Taylor book award in 1984 for The Music of Elliot Carter.

Three of his compositions, "Divertimento" from Gimpel the Fool, Suite from the Sacred Service, and Scenes from Adolescence, may be heard on Delos CD #3058 performed by artists of Chamber Music Northwest and the composer's wife Cantor Judith Schiff. Shtik, written for David Taylor, appears on the album "Past Tells" on the New World label.

Reza Vali
Reza Vali was born in Ghazvin, Iran in 1952 and began his studies in music at the Conservatory of Music in Teheran. In 1972 he went to Austria to study composition and music education at the Academy of Music in Vienna. He earned his Ph.D. in music theory and composition from the University of Pittsburgh in 1985. He is currently a faculty member of the school of music at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Vali's compositions include pieces for large orchestra, string quartet, piano and voice, electronic and computer media, and chamber ensemble. His awards include the honor prize of the Austrian Ministry of Arts and Sciences, two Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships, grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and commissions from the Kronos Quartet, The Boston Modern Orchestra, The Seattle Chamber Players, The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and The Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. In December 1991 he was selected by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as Outstanding Emerging Artist, for which he received the Creative Achievement Award. Composer David Stock has called Reza Vali "the most brilliantly successful composer since Bartok to combine ethnic folk music and Western classical music in a unique way that is as appealing as it is original."

 Vali's compositions have been performed in the United States, Europe, South America, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Australia and are recorded on the New Albion, MMC, and ABC Classics labels. His first string quartet, composed for and premiered by the Kronos Quartet, was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "urgent, cogent and tautly dramatic."

Chicago Chamber Choir
Founded in 1996, the Chicago Chamber Choir is a skilled choral ensemble of 35 voices under the dynamic and enterprising direction of Timm Adams, Artistic Director. The choir's mission is to promote the joy of choral music in its community by offering seasonal concerts and charitable performances that educate and entertain children and adults in the Chicagoland area.

The choir's repertoire is culturally diverse and international in scope. Our seasonal concerts feature a balance of sacred and secular works, including time-honored classics as well as contemporary selections.

As part of our mission, the Chicago Chamber Choir actively seeks performance venues that bring music to individuals who have the tendency to be overlooked by the performing arts community. The choir has performed in Chicago's inner-city schools, retirement homes, homeless shelters, and rehabilitation centers.
http://www.chicagochamberchoir.org/

Timm Adams
Timm Adams has had the honor of conducting the Chicago Chamber Choir since January of 2000, after singing with the group for one season. Adams is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Rockford College in Rockford, IL, where he teaches private voice and music theory, conducts the Women's Ensemble and Regent Singers, and musical directs the Performing Arts Department's mainstage musicals. He holds a Bachelors degree in Music Education from Liberty University and a Masters degree (M.M.) in Vocal Performance from Baylor University, where he served as Opera Teaching Assistant and directed several operas. A conducting student of  Dr. K. Lawrence Renas and a voice student of Dr. John  Van Cura, Adams has had the privilege of singing under the tutelage of Dr. Eph Ely, Dr. Hugh Sanders, Dr. Robert Young, and the renowned Dr. Robert Shaw. He also has enjoyed an extensive career in theater, both as an actor and musical director, and has performed throughout the U.S. in summer stock, regional theater, and in numerous revues, including a premier contract aboard Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas.

Fulcrum Point New Music Project
Fulcrum Point New Music Project has built its reputation on boldly straddling the barriers between classical and world music. Established as Artists in Residence with Performing Arts Chicago from 1998-2003 the Fulcrum Point New Music Project’s primary mission is to present contemporary music in performances that explore the marriage of contemporary, classical music and popular culture to attract new audiences to classical music. Programs include modern compositions inspired by folk, rock, jazz, blues, Latin, and world music, commissioned works, and contemporary arrangements of traditional pieces by composers from around the world.  In a quest to redefine the concert experience, Fulcrum Point performances often incorporate elements of dance, film, literature, cuisine, and the visual arts.  The concerts are purposely designed to encourage audiences of diversity to make cross-cultural connections and, thereby, gain greater insight into the world today. 

Audiences and critics alike have raved about this “barrier-busting” and “most energetic and innovative of Chicago’s younger musical ensembles.” The Chicago Tribune cited the November 11th “The New/Old Song ‘n’ Dance” performance as one of the Ten Best Classical Music Events of 1999.

Stephen Burns, Artistic Director
From his vocally expressive style on piccolo trumpet to multimedia performances on the Aboriginal didjeridoo Stephen Burns has been acclaimed on four continents for his dramatic interpretations and imaginative musicianship. Artist in Residence with Performing Arts Chicago, winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Burns is an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and Maurice André International Competition 1st Grand Prix Laureat. He has performed in the major concert halls of New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., St. Louis,  Quebec, Tokyo, Paris and Venice. Stephen has been a featured guest on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Performance Today,” NBC’s “Today Show,” and at the White House.

As Artistic Director of Fulcrum Point and its sibling organization The American Concerto Orchestra Mr. Burns is a champion of classical contemporary music that is influenced by popular culture. He can be heard on Dorian, Haenssler, ASV, Delos and Musical Heritage Society CD’s. A former tenured professor of music at Indiana University, Prof. Burns is a visiting lecturer at the Amici della Musica Firenze in Florence, Italy. Presently he resides in Chicago with his wife, school psychologist, Katherine Neisser and their twin sons, Edward and Isaac.

Please join us for the opening concert of year 2 in our Essential Art: Essential Elements series. January 25, 2005, at 7:30 p.m. we will present “Survival of the Fittest” with music by Revueltas, Bermel, Augusta Read Thomas, Crumb, Montague and Kitzke. Come meet special guests baritone Timothy Jones and composer Derek Bermel at our post concert reception sponsored by Vin Divino and George Jewel Caterers.