ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Circle of Life embodies the infinite cycles of our humanity as connected beings. Traditional lullabies and selections from Bartók’s For Children open the program with a rustic, characterful nod to childhood curiosities, tenderness, and wonderment. In Shyshtar, the spectacular clash of contrasting musical languages—from Azerbaijani mugham traditional music to the dissonance of modernism—speaks to Ali-Zadeh’s efforts to define herself within the wider world and to the universal human experience. Dvořák’s iconic Serenade for Strings is the heart of the program, having been written at a happy time in his life when Dvořák was basking in his young marriage with a new baby boy and a well-established career. A Far Cry double bassist Karl Doty’s Castles is based on Karl’s experience returning to his childhood home for the first time following the birth of his son. This short, fiddle-inflected tune is sure to fill audiences with joy for all the gifts that new life brings. To close, we shift to the third movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 135 for a moment of quiet introspection.
Program: “CIRCLE OF LIFE”
Traditional: Lullabies, arr. Alex Fortes
BARTOK: Selections from For Children, arr. Leo Weiner
ALI-ZADEH: Shyshtar Metamorphoses
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet, No. 16, Op. 135, Mvt. III (arr. Alex Fortes)
Intermission
DVORAK: Serenade for Strings in E major, Op. 22
DOTY: Castles
ABOUT A FAR CRY
Called a “world-wide phenomenon” by Boston’s WBUR and named by The New Yorker as one of the “Imagination-Grabbing, Trailblazing Artists of 2014,” the Grammy-nominated A Far Cry stands at the forefront of an exciting new generation in classical music.
A Far Cry’s omnivorous approach has led to collaborations with such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Simone Dinnerstein, Roomful of Teeth, the Silk Road Ensemble, Vijay Iyer, and David Krakauer. Tour highlights include two new commissioning projects: Philip Glass’ third piano concerto with soloist Simone Dinnerstein, and The Blue Hour, “a gorgeous and remarkably unified work” (Washington Post) written by a collaborative of five leading female composers – Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw and Sarah Kirkland Snider; and featuring Grammy-winning singer Luciana Souza.
The eighteen Criers are proud to call Boston home, and maintain strong roots in the city, rehearsing at their storefront music center in Jamaica Plain and fulfilling the role of Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Collaborating with local students through an educational partnership with the New England Conservatory, A Far Cry aims to pass on the spirit of collaboratively-empowered music to the next generation.