“MOR has increasingly underscored the relevance of the past to present-day threats to human rights.” –Seattle Times
Music of Remembrance continues their season-long exploration of art and defiance with Identity, an evening of chamber music showcasing brilliant composers from seemingly disparate communities. The March 16 concert at Benaroya Hall features two world premieres, a hallmark of the organization’s commitment to developing persuasive new works that explore the consequences of intolerance. New MOR commissions by acclaimed Portuguese composer Luís Tinoco and choreographer Donald Byrd join works by prominent Black American composers Jessie Montgomery, Rhiannon Giddens, and Carlos Simon, as well as a piece by notable Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk.
Spectrum Dance Theater / credit Marcia Davis
“Too often throughout history, a people’s ethnocultural identity has been used to label them as ‘the other’,” said MOR Artistic Director Mina Miller. “Our concert connects three communities – Jewish, African American, and Ukrainian – celebrating their uniqueness and shared humanity. MOR’s mission speaks out through music against intolerance of all kinds and honors those who bravely persevere. In today’s divisive world, our hope is that this concert links us across diverse cultures and traditions.”
This season’s premieres bring the organization’s total commissions to 48 new works, including song cycles, chamber works, operas, film scores, and choreography – all using art to confront compelling issues in today’s world.
Portuguese composer Luís Tinoco / credit Jorge Carmona
The first part of the concert explores Jewish identity and its expression across time, most notably with the world premiere of Tribulations by acclaimed Portuguese composer Luís Tinoco. The work for soprano and chamber ensemble considers the crypto-Jews, those forced by the Inquisition to conceal their true faith. Tinoco, who will join MOR in conversation preceding the performance, is the 2024 winner of the Pessoa Prize – Portugal’s most prestigious arts and sciences award, given in recognition of Portuguese people who play a significant role in the country’s cultural and scientific life.
“The impact on crypto-Judaism following the Portuguese Inquisition was huge,” said Tinoco. “These people faced daily threats and struggled with persecution through centuries, and either resisted authority or found refuge abroad. Their stories are particularly relevant nowadays, as we can see both political and religious persecution growing in many regions of the globe. I hope this music invites us to reflect on the urgency to report injustice and respect the most basic human rights.”
Works by Eastern European composers frame each half of the concert: Elegie by Michel Michelet and Carpathian Rhapsody by Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk. Born into a Jewish family in late 19th-century Kiev, then part of the Russian Empire, Michelet went on to become a prolific movie composer and two-time Oscar nominee, while Skoryk’s music has been seen as a spiritual embodiment of Ukraine’s cultural identity during the current Russian invasion.
Choreographer Donald Byrd / courtesy of Spectrum Dance Theater
Identity also explores the persecution of Black Americans throughout the country’s history. An arrangement of Last Kind Words by Geeshie Wiley, often considered the rural South’s greatest blues singer, reflects a young girl’s defiance as her father departs to fight in WWI. This 1930s ballad is paired with living composers who offer searing depictions of slavery, the Jim Crow era, and the continuing effects of racism in the present day. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Rhiannon Giddens created At the Purchaser’s Option after finding a 19th-century advertisement for a 22-year-old female slave whose infant was also for sale, should the purchaser desire. In his Requiem for the Enslaved, Grammy-nominated composer Carlos Simon fuses elements of liturgical mass and spirituals to explore the ideology of slavery, seeking to honor the human beings owned and sold by Georgetown University, where he is an associate professor. In the evening’s second world premiere, Jessie Montgomery’s existing Source Code will be performed with brand-new choreography by Donald Byrd featuring dancers from Spectrum Dance Theater.
"The first sketches of Source Code began as transcriptions of various sources from African American artists prominent during the peak of the Civil Rights era in the United States,” said Montgomery. “I experimented by re-interpreting gestures, sentences, and musical syntax (the bare bones of rhythm and inflection) by choreographer Alvin Ailey, poets Langston Hughes and Rita Dove, and the great jazz songstress Ella Fitzgerald into musical sentences and tone paintings. Ultimately, this led me back to the Black spiritual as a common musical source across all three genres. I'm excited to see how Music of Remembrance interprets this work through their new dance commission, particularly because it is in partnership with choreographer Donald Byrd, who has worked with Alvin Ailey, one of the original sources of inspiration around this piece.”
Identity
Sunday, March 16, 2025 @ 5:00 pm
Benaroya Hall
200 University Street
Seattle, Washington
Tickets $60; Students $25 (ID required)
https://musicofremembrance.org/identity
Full Program:
Michel Michelet • Elegie
with MOR Chamber Ensemble
World Premiere: Luís Tinoco • Tribulations
with Vanessa Isiguen, soprano; MOR Chamber Ensemble
Myroslav Skoryk • Carpathian Rhapsody
with Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Cristina Valdes, piano
Carlos Simon • “Remember Me” from Requiem for the Enslaved
with Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Walter Gray, cello
Rhiannon Giddens • At the Purchaser’s Option
with MOR Chamber Ensemble strings; arranged by Jacob Garchik for Kronos Quartet
Geeshie Wiley • Last Kind Words
with MOR Chamber Ensemble strings; arranged by Jacob Garchik for Kronos Quartet
Jessie Montgomery • Source Code
featuring World Premiere choreography by Donald Byrd
with MOR Chamber Ensemble strings; dancers from Spectrum Dance Theater
Music of Remembrance Ensemble: Laura DeLuca, clarinet; Mikhail Shmidt, violin; Natasha Bazhanov, violin; Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola; Walter Gray, cello; Jonathan Green, double bass; Cristina Valdes, piano
Established in 1998, Music of Remembrance (MOR) has made a unique impact through works that honor the resilience of all people excluded or persecuted for faith, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. Its programs pay tribute to historic memory, and directly confront challenges to human rights and dignity today. In addition to its work discovering and performing music from the Holocaust, MOR is admired around the world for its leadership in commissioning and premiering new works by leading composers, including varied chamber ensembles, song cycles, choral works, dance music, film scores, musical dramas, and full-length operas. MOR’s online concerts, nine albums, three documentary films, and many outreach programs have added to the impact experienced by live audiences. MOR’s annual David Tonkonogui Memorial Award welcomes new generations along on this journey, nurturing young musicians who seek to address issues of human rights through their art.