Meyer Auditorium Concert Series

Part 4: Encore. 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.

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. In part one, traditional Vedic chants are offered by Venkatesh Sastri, chief priest at the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, one of the Washington area's oldest and largest Hindu temples. Recorded live in the Meyer Auditorium October 14, 2006.

Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Gustav Holst. Woodley Ensemble; Frank Albinder, music director; Mark Vogel, piano. 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. 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.

Here is an unprecedented opportunity to hear this quartet of faculty members from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Jerusalem on their debut American tour. The ensemble performs classical and contemporary Arab music for 'ud, nay, clarinet, qanun, and percussion. The conservatory, with campuses in Bethlehem and Ramallah, was famously endorsed by both Edward Said and conductor Daniel Barenboim for its teaching of Western and Arab music to Palestinian youth. Presented in cooperation with American Near East Refugee Aid. Recorded live at the Freer Gallery of Art on February 16, 2006.

Fresh from his West Coast tour, Murat Aydemir, a young Turkish tanbur (lute) virtuoso, joins veteran ney (flute) master Salih Bilgin for informal performances of Ottoman Turkish music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Hear the sounds of musical instruments that are often depicted in Ottoman paintings and were central to musical life in the Ottoman court. Recorded live at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on January 14, 2006.

Internationally acclaimed composer/conductor Tan Dun, whose many accomplishments include an Academy Award for his score to the hit film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," leads this discussion/demonstration exploring the vanishing musical cultures of ethnic minorities in western Hunan. His discusses his most recent creation, The Map, which combines a stone-drumming ensemble, cello soloist, the Shanghai Symphony, and video of traditional dance. The talk follows the American premiere of the work at the Kennedy Center on October 17. A co-presentation with the Kennedy Center's Performance Plus program. Recorded live at the Freer Gallery of Art on October 18, 2005.

Experience the haunting choral melodies and evocative dances of the aboriginal Bunun and Ami tribes of Taiwan's high central mountains and rugged east coast. The troupe appeared at Lincoln Center's Out of Doors Festival, prompting the New York Times to delare, "The city's busy skyscape paled before the authority, simplicity, and radiant humanity of the company." The surprisingly modern choral sounds of the Bunun shocked musicologists who first heard it 60 years ago, and Bunun musicians were featured on the recent CD with ECM recording artist, cellist David Darling. To preserve and share the island's rich aboriginal culture, the ensemble draws its membership from Taiwan's twelve native tribes. This concert was presented in cooperation with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office. Recorded live at the Freer Gallery of Art on October 9, 2005.

Travel to the fabled caravan routes of desert India with this eight-member ensemble. Their infectious rhythms spring from thirty-six generations of musicians who performed for Rajput maharajas and at temple festivals, where Muslim musicians, Hindu devotion, and rich local culture blended with invigorating results. Presented in cooperation with Folk Arts Rajasthan. Recorded live at the Freer Gallery of Art on September 18, 2005.