East meets West in live music, dance, and theater performances from across Asia. Experience classical and contemporary forms through formal concerts in the Meyer Auditorium and intimate presentations alongside exhibitions. Our chamber music series focuses on renowned artists performing the latest works by Asian composers and music inspired by Asia.
Detail, Waves at Matsushima 松島図屏風; F1906.231-232
This concert was presented in 2015 in conjunction with the exhibition Sōtatsu: Making Waves, which was on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery from October 24, 2015, through January 31, 2016.
Seijo Tominari, koto, shamisen, and voice
Seiritsu Tomio, koto and voice
Yodo Kurahashi, shakuhachi
Ayako Kurahashi, koto and voice
Miyuki Yoshikami, koto and voice
Cantate Chamber Singers, Gisele Becker, director
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The Tarek Yamani Trio performed at the Freer Gallery on December 6, 2014. Left to right are Tarek Yamani (piano), Petros Klampanis (bass), and Evan Sherman (drums). The trio performed jazz standards along with Tarek’s original jazz arrangements of classic Arab songs from the 1950s.
Take a jazz journey to the Arab world of the 1950s with Lebanese pianist Tarek Yamani and his original arrangements of music from the classic era of Arab songs. The Beirut-born Yamani is joined by bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Evan Sherman. Yamani breathes invigorating new life into songs made wildly popular by such singers as Uum Kulthum and composers Sayyid Darwīsh and Mohammad al-Maslūb and their orchestras. Winner of the Thelonius Monk Competition in 2010, Yamani created the annual music initiative Beirut Speaks Jazz in 2013 and has performed at the United Nations and in clubs across New York City.
This concert was originally performed at the Meyer Auditorium on December 6, 2014.
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Take an enchanting, musical journey through the great outdoors. Award-winning French pianist David Kadouch performs travel-inspired works by Bach, Schumann, Liszt, and Bartók. Kadouch made his New York debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after winning top prizes at the Beethoven Bonn Competition and Leeds International Piano Competition. This concert was presented in conjunction with The Traveler’s Eye: Scenes from Asia.
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Two virtuosos of the Iranian hammered dulcimer explore the subtle nuances and dramatic flair of Persian classical music on this ancient instrument. Their improvisations, performed at the Freer Gallery of Art in 2014, are based on the Persian dastgāhs, melodic modes that are comparable in richness and history to the ragas of India.
View more about this podcast »The brilliant Japanese violinist Mayuko Kamio, a gold medalist at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, performs Johannes Brahms’ Scherzo from his F-A-E Sonata; Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane; Toshio Hosokawa’s Vertical Time Study III; Shinichiro Ikebe’s Themes from the Japanese film Catharsis, and an encore of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee. This concert was recorded in 2014 in conjunction with Kiyochika: Master of the Night.
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Enjoy the Romantic music that so entranced Japan in the late nineteenth century with this recital by the acclaimed Swiss-born pianist Gilles Vonsattel, whose 2011 CD was named a classical album of the year by Time Out New York. Beethoven’s beloved “Moonlight” Sonata and Bagatelles are played alongside works by Liszt and Schumann. The podcast concludes with Debussy’s atmospheric Images, Books I and II, compositions that were directly inspired by Japanese prints. This concert took place in conjunction with the 2014 exhibition, Kyochika: Master of the Night.
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In this compelling recital, Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat performs rarely heard music by the late Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu and Chinese-born composer Tan Dun. Takemitsu, well known for his film scores, made his fame as a master of the orchestral colors that he ingeniously employs in his piano works. Tan Dun’s early fame came from his innovative use of percussion, which he integrated into his music for piano. Van Raat made his East Coast debut with this Freer Gallery recital in 2014, shortly after he performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in his first North American appearance.
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The full ensemble heard on this podcast includes (left to right) Basel Rajoub, tenor saxophone; Kenan Adnawi, ‘ud; Naghib Shanbehzadeh, percussion; and Saeid Shanbehzadeh, Persian bagpipe. (Photo by Scott Friedlander © 2014, used with permission.)
Four jazz-oriented artists from the Middle East merge the musical traditions for Persian and Arab bagpipe, double clarinet, lute, and drums along with the Western saxophone. Together they forge new sounds that transport ancient melodies into modern idioms. This performance was recorded live in concert at the Freer Gallery on December 12, 2013, and was presented in cooperation with the Aga Khan Music Initiative.
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Opening the concert was the trompong kebyar dance. I Nyoman Maria created its music and choreography in 1925. The name reflects the fact that the dancer (here, I Putu Dedik Sutyana) also plays the trompong, a row of gong-chimes.
Thrill to the high-voltage music of the Balinese gamelan in this electrifying performance by the professional ensemble of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. This all-star orchestra conveys the virtuosic tempos and dramatic shifts for which the Balinese gamelan is so justly famous. This music was recorded in 2013 as part of Performing Indonesia: A Conference and Festival of Music, Dance, and Drama.
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Music for the dance Lawung Jajar, created by Sultan Hamengku Buwana I (reigned 1755−92), concludes the podcast. This dance is based on military traditions at the court, specifically the lance maneuvers (lawung). The dancers for the performance were Yata, Pramutomo, Icuk Ismunandar, Widaru Krefianto Darmawan, and Anon Suneko.
Immerse yourself in the soothing sounds of Javanese gongs and xylophones in this performance by the gamelan ensemble of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts. The orchestra features a vast array of bronze gongs and bronze-key xylophones; mellifluous vocals and classical fiddle complete the beguiling mix. This performance was recorded in 2013 as part of Performing Indonesia: A Conference and Festival of Music, Dance, and Drama.
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Immerse yourself in the yoga of sound (nada yoga) through contemplative melodic explorations and invigorating rhythmic improvisations performed by K. Sridhar, one of India’s most prominent soloists on the sarod (Indian lute). Sridhar believes Indian ragas “can be appreciated as a language that reveals different aspects of the Divine,” and he discusses the yoga of sound in the podcast notes. This performance was recorded live in concert in 2013 in conjunction with the exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation.
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Enjoy the graceful melodies and lovely textures of the classical Chinese guzheng, a zither with twenty-one strings that dates to the fifth century BCE. Virtuoso Bing Xia and her student Rujia Teng perform classical and contemporary works that embody many aspects of the mythical phoenix of Chinese legend. Their performance was recorded in 2013 in conjunction with the exhibition Nine Deaths, Two Births: Xu Bing’s Phoenix Project, which was on view in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery from April 27 to September 2, 2013.
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Hear evocative solos and refreshing new arrangements of Arab music performed by Naseer Shamma and his Cairo-based ensemble. One of the Middle East’s leading ‘ud (lute) virtuosos, Shamma is joined by musicians performing on violin, flute (nay), dulcimer (qanun), cello, and percussion. The concert includes Shamma’s original compositions, Venus and Halat Wajd (Rapture.)
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The Momenta Quartet originally assembled a version ofthe program, “Modern Awakenings: New Music Inspired by Buddhism,” at the request of the Rubin Museum of Art (New York), which specializes in Tibetan Buddhist and other Himalayan art. The Quartet’s members are (left to right) Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin; Adda Kridler, violin; Stephanie Griffin, viola; and Michael Haas, cello.
Composers from Malaysia, Japan, China, and the United States explore aspects of Buddhism through music written for string quartet. Formed in 2004, the adventuresome Momenta Quartet has performed often in New York at BargeMusic, Tonic, Le Poisson Rouge, The Stone, Roulette, and Symphony Space. It also serves as the quartet-in-residence at Temple University. This concert was recorded as part of the Meyer Concert Series at the Freer Gallery of Art on November 8, 2012.
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Experience traditional music for Saudi weddings, fishing expeditions, love songs, and other occasions performed by this six-member ensemble from Jeddah. The musicians play violin, ‘ud (lute), nay (flute), tabla (drum), and qanun (zither). Recorded in November 2012 in conjunction with the exhibition Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Experience the powerful music of Kazakhstan’s nomadic culture, performed by three women who specialize in performing heroic epics, lyrical songs of celebration, and shamanic fiddle. Their music evokes the expansive plains and open skies of Central Asia as well as the long history of the Kazakhs who have prospered in a harshly beautiful land at the heart of the Silk Road. This concert features Ulzhan Baibosynova and Ardak Issataeva on vocals and dombyra (Kazakh lute) and Raushan Orazbaeva on qobyz (Kazakh fiddle). It was presented in conjunction with the exhibition Nomads and Networks: The Ancient Art and Culture of Kazakhstan in 2012.
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Kayhan Kalhor uses a plucking technique in performing on the traditionally bowed instrument. He and Behrouz Jamali take a bow following their performance at the Freer Gallery on March 17, 2012.
Hear this three-time Grammy nominee and original member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble return to his roots in this performance of Persian classical music on kamanche, the traditional Iranian fiddle. Kayhan Kalhor’s fluid and compelling improvisations on the classic Persian modes have brought this venerable music tradition to new heights for audiences around the world. This performance was recorded at the Meyer Auditorium of the Freer Gallery of Art on March 17, 2012.
View more about this podcast »Experience the painterly palette of sounds created by composers Claude Debussy and Enrique Granados in this concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth. The virtuosic Calefax Reed Quintet, from the Netherlands, performs its own lush arrangements of Debussy’s works, which were deeply influenced by the American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler. This concert was presented as part of the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series on March 2, 2012, and made possible in part through support from the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts.
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This concert podcast explores relationships between visual arts and music, specifically the work of American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), his influence on French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918), and their mutual connection to Japan. During the 1870s and 80s, Whistler created a series of dark, atmospheric paintings of nighttime landscapes that he called "nocturnes," such as this one depicting the south bank of the Thames River. His inspiration for these works came, in part, from Japanese woodblock prints, while the term "nocturne" was suggested to Whistler by one of his patrons, Frederick Leyland, an amateur pianist. Leyland, in turn, borrowed the label from Frédéric Chopin's piano works of the same name, written in the 1830s. Some years later, Debussy was inspired by Whistler (rather than Chopin) when he composed orchestral works that he in turn titled "nocturnes" in the 1890s. Nocturne: Blue and Silver—Battersea Reach; by James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903); 1870-1875; oil on canvas; gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1902.97a-b
Experience the painterly palette of sounds created by composers Claude Debussy and Enrique Granados in this concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth. The virtuosic Calefax Reed Quintet, from the Netherlands, performs its own lush arrangements of Debussy’s works, which were deeply influenced by the American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler. This concert was presented as part of the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series on March 2, 2012, and made possible in part through support from the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts.
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Hear new and reconstructed music for an ancient West Asian harp that was preserved, along with other Silk Road treasures, at the Shoso-in, an eighth-century Japanese imperial storehouse in the temple city of Nara. Harp soloist Fuyuhiko Sasaki recreates the sound of the kugo (harp) in works commissioned for the National Theater of Japan and to commemorate the 1,200th anniversary of the city of Kyoto and honor the victims of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. He was joined by five other ensemble members on shakuhachi (flute), sho (mouth organ), hichiriki (double-reeds), and haisho (panpipes). This concert was recorded at the Freer Gallery on February 22, 2012, as part of Music From Japan Festival 2012.
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Hear Korea’s most beloved folksong, “Arirang,” interpreted by seven leading improvisers from Korea and New York. Led by Heo Yoon-jeong on zithers and Ned Rothenberg on reeds, the Tori Project treats five regional styles of “Arirang” to a compelling array of variations and extrapolations. This concert was recorded at the Freer|Sackler on December 8, 2011.
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Hear new works for violin, cello, piano, erhu, and pipa composed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Zhou Long; Beijing-based composer Lu Pei; and Chen Yi, winner of the Charles Ives Living Award. Two outstanding ensembles–Music From China and Music From Copland House–join forces for this performance, presented as part of the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series on November 3, 2011.
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Hear a gorgeous new concerto for the Japanese koto and Western string quartet by American composer Daron Hagen, who has written works for the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Kings Singers, among many others. Preceding that are two contrasting works for solo koto: a classical piece by seventeenth-century composer Kengyo Yatsuhashi and Yumi Kurosawa’s own new work for the instrument. This concert was recorded in the Freer|Sackler’s Meyer Auditorium as part of the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series on October 13, 2011.
For more on the koto and Yumi Kurosawa, mark your calendar for Look and Listen: Asian Art and Music on June 24, 2020.
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The Four Nations ensemble features Charles Brink, flute; Krista Bennion Feeney, violin; Loretta O'Sullivan, cello; and Andrew Appel, harpsichord and director. The ensemble presents its own annual series, Hudson River Harvest Concerts, and a second series at Columbia University’s Maison Française, in addition to guest appearances at early music festivals worldwide. (Photo by David Rodgers)
During the era of Bach and Handel, European music traveled to Asia and the Americas with missionaries, merchants, and performers. This concert, recorded in 2011, features a sonata written by a Jesuit composer for the emperor of China in the Forbidden City in 1720, along with baroque music heard in Latin America and the newly founded United States.
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Hear the driving rhythms and vocal gymnastics of qawwali, Sufi music from South Asia, performed by an ensemble based in Ajmer Sharif, one of India’s most sacred Sufi shrines. Present throughout much of the Islamic world, Sufis seek to personally experience the divine through music, poetry, self-discipline, and contemplation. The Chishty order of Sufis was founded in India in the thirteenth century.
This recording was made live in concert at the Meyer Auditorium on April 30, 2011.
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The featured pianists on this podcast are (left to right) Jenny Lin (born in Taiwan), Quynh Nguyen (born in Hanoi), and Xiayin Wang (born in Shanghai). Jenny Lin’s recording of the Shostakovich Preludes was voted Best of 2009 by the Washington Post. Quynh Nguyen won top prize at the International Piano Concerto Competition and now teaches at Hunter College in New York. Xiayin Wang, who has appeared at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, was called “a paragon of virtuosity” by the Washington Post.
Enjoy virtuosic arrangements of feisty folk songs from China and Vietnam, along with new music evoking calm landscapes of Asia. These selections are drawn from performances by pianists Xiayin Wang, Jenny Lin, and Quynh Nguyen, who appeared at the Freer Gallery of Art in 2010 and 2011.
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Grammy Award nominee Shujaat Khan is one of the leading exponents of Indian classical music. On the occasion of India’s fiftieth anniversary of independence, he performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall and for the United Nations at Assembly Hall in Geneva, Switzerland. He also has appeared at Royal Albert Hall in London, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, and Congress Hall in Berlin. With the innovative Indo-Persian trio Ghazal, he earned a Grammy nomination in 2004 for the group’s third recording, Rain. This performance was recorded in concert at the Freer Gallery on April 30, 2010.
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Japanese composer Sukeyasu Shiba leads his Reigakusha ensemble in a performance of original and reconstructed music for the ancient royal ensemble known as gagaku. A longtime member of the gagaku orchestra for the Imperial Household Agency, Shiba composes works that revitalize a highly ritualized musical repertoire rarely heard in the West. His ensemble features biwa (lute), koto (zither), shakuhachi (flute), ryuteki (flute), sho (mouth organ), hichiriki (double-reed), and taiko (drum). This performance was part of the thirty-fifth anniversary celebration of Music From Japan, based in New York City, and marked that organization’s twelfth annual program at the Freer Gallery. Recorded in concert February 24, 2010.
View more about this podcast »Enjoy a recital by the Paris-based Iranian virtuoso Bahman Panahi, who made his American debut in 2009 at Harvard University. He is one of the leading exponents of Persian classical music, an improvisational tradition related to the ragas of India. Trained in calligraphy as well as music, Panahi has appeared in concerts and workshops throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, and has performed at Carnegie Hall. This concert was recorded in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium on Friday, October 30, 2009, in conjunction with the exhibition Falnama: The Book of Omens.
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One of the giants of Indian classical music made his first Smithsonian appearance since 1994 for this concert, recorded on September 24, 2009. During the thirty years of his international career, L. Subramaniam has performed with jazz artists Stéphane Grapelli, Herbie Hancock, and Jean-Luc Ponty, as well as the New York Philharmonic; written film scores for Salaam Bombay! and Mississippi Masala; earned a Grammy nomination; and received the revered title of Padma Bhushan from the president of India.
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Travel to the Ottoman Empire through the music of composer, scholar, and diplomat Dimitrie Cantemir (16731723), a flamboyant and brilliant figure who served four Ottoman sultans and Russia’s Tsar Peter the Great. Cantemir’s treatise on Turkish classical music included more than three hundred fifty original compositions. After he led an ill-fated rebellion against the Ottomans in his native Moldavia, he escaped to Moscow where he organized lavish musical events with his daughter, a harpsichordist trained in the Italian style. Turkish instrumentalists Neva zgen and Murat Aydemir join the baroque music ensemble Lux Musica to recreate the sounds of Cantemir’s Moldavian homeland and his careers in Istanbul and Moscow. Recorded live in concert at the Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art, on June 11, 2009.
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Hear the world premiere of Vivian Fung’s String Quartet no. 2, commissioned by the Shanghai Quartet, along with Mozart’s String Quartet no. 15 and Beethoven’s monumental Quartet opp. 130/133, performed by one of the world’s leading chamber music ensembles. The Shanghai Quartet has appeared annually at the Freer Gallery of Art since 1996. One of their recent performances inspired the Washington Post to applaud their “self-effacing beauty of sound . . . gorgeous tone with an unwavering unanimity of expressive intent . . . a musical conversation of stunning authenticity and presence.” This concert was recorded before a live audience as part of the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series on April 23, 2009.
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Iranian-born vocalist Mamak Khadem, formerly of the Persian-fusion band Axiom of Choice, performs songs inspired by melodies from Armenia, Kurdistan, Baluchistan, and Turkey, as well as music from Iran. Her ensemble features Ole Mathisen, clarinet and saxophone; Jamshied Sharifi, keyboard; Hamid Saeidi, santur (hammered dulcimer); and Ben Wittman, percussion. This performance was recorded in concert at the Freer Gallery on March 7, 2009, as part of the Freer and Sackler’s celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
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In this first-of-its-kind collaboration, a saxophone quartet joins with traditional Chinese instruments such as erhu (fiddle), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and pipa (lute) to perform new works written for them by Grammy Award-winners Zhou Long and Chen Yi, among others.. The New York Times praised the PRISM Quartet for its “sensitivity, technical assurance, and mellow sweet sound,” while the Kansas City Star raved that “Music From China is music from heaven.” This performance was recorded in concert in the Freer’s Meyer Auditorium on March 1, 2009.
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Iraqi-American jazz artist Amir ElSaffar leads this cross-cultural quintet in a live concert rendition of Two Rivers, an original multi-movement work inspired by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the current strife in Iraq, and the common ground between American jazz and Iraqi classical music. ElSaffar sets the modes of Arab music to innovative grooves, free ensemble playing, and multilayered sound textures, resulting in a work that the BBC praises as “harrowing to absorb, full of as much beauty as pain.” He performs on trumpet, santur, and vocals, along with Rudresh Mahanthappa, saxophone; Nasheet Waits, drums; Carlo De Rosa, bass; and Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone. This concert was made possible, in part, with support from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University, and was recorded in concert in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium on February 7, 2009.
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Six boundary-breaking musicians from Korea and the United States join forces for this cross-cultural jazz collaboration evoking the origins of the universe, the cosmic balance of yin and yang, and the five elements of creation. Three leading lights of the New York improv scene–Ned Rothenberg (clarinet, saxophone, and shakuhachi), Erik Friedlander (cello), and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion)–are joined by three Korean musicians–Yoon Jeong Heo (geomungo/zither), Kwon Soon Kang (vocal), and Young Chi Min (daegum/flute and janggo/drum) –for this unique experiment that blends free jazz and traditional Korean music.
This concert took place in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium on December 9, 2008.
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Experience the shimmering brilliance of a Balinese gamelan orchestra and see images of the dramatic dances from the island’s Hindu-Balinese traditions as the Washington, D.C., area’s own Gamelan Mitra Kusuma (Flowering Friendship) performs a program of classical and contemporary repertoire. Three guest artists join gamelan director I Nyoman Suadin, who studied at Bali’s Conservatory of the Performing Arts and currently teaches at the University of Maryland, Swarthmore College, and the Eastman School of Music. This performance took place in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium on December 4, 2008.
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An international quartet of musicians combines Western and Japanese instruments to perform music written during the course of the twentieth-century, from Kosaku Yamada’s “Seven Poems” (1914) to Toru Takemitsu’s “Between Tides” (1993). Masayo Ishigure has performed on koto at Lincoln Center and on John Williams’s soundtrack for the feature film “Memoirs of a Geisha.” James Wilson was a long-time cellist with the Shanghai Quartet. Pianist Kathryn Woodard served as a consultant to Yo-Yo Ma’s “Silk Road Project.” Violinist Theresa Salomon completes this outstanding ensemble.
This concert was presented on October 2, 2008, as part of the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series, supported by the New York Community Trust–The Island Fund and numerous additional donors.
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Six veterans of the venerable Marlboro Music Festival perform Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet, op. 20, no. 4 (1772); Elliott Carter’s Figment IV, for unaccompanied viola (2007, American premiere); Carter’s Quartet for Oboe and Strings (2001); and Robert Schumann’s Quartet for Piano and Strings, op. 47 (1842). The ensemble features Susie Park and Harumi Rhodes, violins; Samuel Rhodes, viola; Priscilla Lee, cello; Rudolph Vrbsky, oboe; and Ieva Jokubaciute, piano. Recorded live in the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium on March 18, 2008.
Haydn: String Quartet in D Major (0:00-26:50)
Carter: Figment IV (27:14-30:15)
Carter: Oboe Quartet (30:33-47:27)
Schumann: Piano Quartet (47:55-1:16:42)
Enjoy prize-winning compositions in Music From China’s International Composers Competition for new music with Chinese and Western instruments, as well as works by Grammy Award-winners Zhou Long and Chen Yi. The Music from China Ensemble features exceptional artists on erhu (fiddle), zheng (zither), sheng (mouth organ), and other Chinese instruments, complemented by cello, flute, and percussion. The Kansas City Star called the Music From China ensemble “music from heaven” and “exceptionally rewarding.”
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The Freer and Sackler Galleries celebrated the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Sufi poet Jalal-a-Din Rumi with a day of concerts, poetry readings, family activities, and gallery tours. The Persian National Music Ensemble, based in Baltimore, told stories of Rumi’s life, reflected on his philosophy, recited selected poems, and performed traditional musical settings of Rumi’s lyrics sung by vocalist Firoozeh Zarrabi, accompanied by santur (hammered zither), tar (lute), and daff and tombak (percussion).
This studio recording presents the same program performed at the Freer Gallery of Art on October 27, 2007.
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Iraqi-born musician Rahim Alhaj earned a 2008 Grammy nomination for his CD titled When the Soul Is Settled: Music of Iraq, released on the Smithsonian Folkways label. He studied at the famed Baghdad Conservatory under the late Munir Bashir, who was perhaps the greatest oud (Arab lute) master of the twentieth century. Since arriving in the United States in 2000, Alhaj has released three more CDs, including one of original music for oud and string quartet. Legendary jazz guitarist Bill Frisell calls Alhaj’s music “beautiful, mysterious, and powerful.” This concert on July 31, 2007, was made possible in part through support from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University.
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Return to the era of exploration of Columbus and Magellan, when missionaries, merchants, diplomats, and artists first traveled to Asia. Hear sixteenth-century songs from Spain and Portugal that express the sadness of leaving home, the joy of returning, and the invigoration of experiencing new cultures. The ensemble Vozes Alfonsinas, based in Lisbon, features the Renaissance guitar and vihuela, the bowed rebec, and the long-necked theorbo, along with a variety of recorders, percussion, and vocals.
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The Lisbon-based Gulbenkian Choir performed sacred music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in conjunction with the 2007 Sackler exhibition Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries. The program included works by Portuguese composers Pero de Bamboa (1563?–1638) and Francisco António de Almeida (died ca. 1755), as well as Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757), who spent nine years as royal chapel master to King João V of Portugal. These compositions—with lyrics taken from the Psalms, the New Testament, and medieval monastic poetry—reflect the same religious inspirations that informed Christian artwork created under Portuguese influence in India, China, and Japan.
Immerse yourself in sacred choral music from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, performed by Lisbon’s outstanding Gulbenkian Choir. This performance was held in conjunction with the exhibition Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries, which was on view at the Sackler Gallery in 2007. The program features Baroque church music that parallels the Christian artwork created under Portuguese influence in India, China, and Japan. Included are works by Portuguese composers Pero de Gamboa and Francisco António de Almeida, as well as famed Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti, who spent nine years as royal chapel master to the King of Portugal. This performance was recorded on June 23, 2007, in conjunction with the exhibition Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries. It was made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
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Hwang Byungki is Korea’s acclaimed master of the classical kayagum, an ancient ancestor of the Japanese koto. His six-member ensemble performs traditional music and original works by Hwang on kayagum, taegum (flute), komungo (zither), and changgu (hour-glass drum). Hwang Byungki has toured internationally for more than forty years. In 1990, he led an ensemble to North Korea to perform in a landmark concert advocating the reunification of Korea.
This concert was made possible, in part, by the Korea Society and the Korea Foundation. Recorded live on June 5, 2007, Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art.
Sounds of the Night (0:00-11:30)
Soyop Sanbang (11:53-22:10)
Moon of My Hometown (22:36-27:02)
Kayagum sanjo (27:25-46:02)
Harimsong (46:40-54:20)
Ch’imhyangmu (Dance of Aloe Perfume) (54:43-1:08:50)
Enjoy this rarely heard tradition of Chinese music and drama called nanguan. Dating from the early seventeenth-century Ming dynasty, it has been revived by Chinese musicians and actors in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. It is performed here by vocalists and instrumentalists on Chinese fiddle, lute, gongs, flute, and percussion. The centerpiece of the performance is an excerpt from Enjoying the Flowers, a famous scene in the nanguan repertoire. In this episode, a lady’s maid conjures up imagery of bees, butterflies, birds, and flowers to convince her patron to express her frustrated love through romantic poetry. This performance was presented in cooperation with the Taipei Cultural Center and in conjunction with the Sackler exhibition East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art. Recorded live in the Haupt Garden at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on April 22, 2007.
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St. Mark and St. Luke; Right cover of The Washington Manuscript of the Gospels, F1906.298
Cappella Romana, a leading Byzantine music ensemble of virtuoso singers from Greece, England, and the United States, performs “Medieval Byzantine Chant: Advent and Christmas from St. Catherine’s Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt.” The concert features music from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including works by Manuel Gazes and St. John Koukouzeles. This concert is part of the Meyer Concert Series and was presented in conjunction with the Sackler exhibition In the Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1000, and incooperation with the J. Paul Getty Museum exhibition Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai. Recorded live in the Meyer Auditorium November 30, 2006.
View more about this podcast »The Woodley Ensemble, the area’s leading chamber choir, gives the Washington premiere of Gustav Holst’s rarely heard Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda. Holst made his own translations from the Sanskrit for this work, which he completed in 1918. Traditional Vedic chants offered by the chief priest at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, one of the Washington area’s oldest and largest Hindu temples, precede the concert. Frank Albinder, conductor of the Woodley Ensemble, was long-time associate director of the Grammy Award-winning Chanticleer choir of San Francisco. Presented in conjunction with the centennial of Freer’s 1906 gift to the Smithsonian. Recorded live in the Meyer Auditorium October 14, 2006.
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Hear four virtuoso faculty members from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem performing on their debut American tour in 2006. The ensemble performs classical and contemporary Arab and Turkish music for ‘ud, nay, clarinet, qanun, and percussion. The conservatory, with campuses in Bethlehem and Ramallah, was endorsed by both Edward Said and conductor Daniel Barenboim for its teaching of Western and Arab music to Palestinian youth. This concert was presented in cooperation with American Near East Refugee Aid and recorded live at the Freer Gallery of Art on February 16, 2006.
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Ethereal music from Sufi ritual and the Ottoman court is performed here by two outstanding specialists in Turkish music: Murat Aydemi on the tanbur (lute) and ney (flute) master Salih Bilgin. Composers in the court wrote music for both secular and religious purposes, including the Sufi rites of the Mevlevi order (known in the West as the whirling dervishes). The Nevâ Duo performs music from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Recorded live at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 2006 in conjunction with the exhibition Style and Status: Imperial Costumes from the Ottoman Empire.
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