Music of Remembrance Presents IDENTITY — Preview

A spokesperson describes the event as follows:

“...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...

...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…

...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..."