ANCESTRAL VOICES

APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS

OVERVIEW

Navona Records presents ANCESTRAL VOICES, the Apollo Chamber Players’ next installment in their 20x2020 project. 20x2020 is an initiative to commission 20 new folk music-inspired and multicultural works by the end of the decade. This fiery release comprises four 20x2020 works from composers Gilad Cohen, Arthur Gottschalk, Malek Jandali, and Javier Farias.

A landmark work - recorded in Havana, Cuba - highlights the album: Gottschalk’s Imagenes de Cuba incorporates sounds and music from Cuban culture, from the Cuban national anthem to protest songs to the sounds of a busy Havana square. Cuban percussion virtuoso Adel González joins for the final movement of the work, an exploration of historic salsa and pachanga dances. Cohen’s Three Goat Blues is inspired by the Passover prayer “Chad Gadya,” a fable that concerns a goat that falls victim to the natural laws of predator and prey. Using an ancient Provençal Jewish tune of the prayer as a musical source, Cohen reimagines the plight of the goat and its journey from oppression to salvation through unique bluesy rhythms and Pink Floydian musical effects.

The soundscape of Javier Farias’ Andean Suite is situated on the Andean mountain region, an intersection of geography and culture from several South American nations. He melds the sounds and virtuosity of a classical guitar with string quartet to evoke the ceremonial blood fight of the Peruvian Yawar Fiesta, the Altiplano (“high plains”) of the Andes, and La Diablada, the traditional dance of the Bolivian Oruro Carnival. Syrian-American composer Malek Jandali's String Quartet in E-flat Major connects Middle Eastern modes and Western classical forms. His passion for humanitarian efforts and the music of his home country emanates through expressive and powerful settings of centuries-old Syrian folk melodies, thoughtful interpreted by Apollo Chamber Players.

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HIGHLIGHTS

Apollo Chamber Players is a Houston-based non-profit chamber music organization that explores the cultural and folkloric influences in classical music. In 2013 and 2017, the Apollo performed for sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall, and the ensemble has been presented by Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, Piccolo Spoleto, and at Seattle, Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon Universities, among others. Apollo is featured frequently on American Public Media’s nationally-syndicated program, Performance Today. Apollo partners with refugee service organizations, veterans groups, and it reaches thousands of students annually through its impactful educational programming.

Apollo’s Havana recording of Gottschalk’s Imagenes de Cuba in January 2017 marked the first time an American chamber ensemble recorded and performed in Cuba.

Apollo is committed to fostering an interest in folk-inspired composition. Their inaugural International Commissioning Contest, created for the 20x2020 initiative, yielded 254 entries from 30 countries and 36 US states. 20x2020 commissions, as well as other folk-related compositions and transcriptions, can be heard on BLURRED BOUNDARIES (NV6038) and EUROPEAN FOLKSCAPES (NV5941), both available on Navona Records.

Arthur Gottschalk is Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he founded REMLabs for electronic music. His award-winning music can be heard on over 40 recordings, including REQUIEM: FOR THE LIVING (NV6009) on Navona Records.

The wide-ranging music of Syrian-American composer and pianist Malek Jandali has been performed around the world by such orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Stockholm Solister. He was recently honored with a GUSI Peace Prize for his humanitarian work on his world tour “The Voice of the Free Syrian Children.”

Though Javier Farias is known for his works for solo guitar, he has composed works for a wide spectrum of ensembles. The Modern Orchestra of Chile awarded him the “Best Composer of the Concert Season Award” for his work “Dezlía,” for flamenco group, jazz ensemble and string orchestra.

Award-winning Israeli composer, performer, and theorist Gilad Cohen incorporates classical, rock, and theatre influences into his music. His research concerning the music of Pink Floyd resulted in his co-founding the first academic conference devoted to the band.

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ALSO ON NAVONA

BLURRED BOUNDARIES (nv6038)

EUROPEAN FOLKSCAPES (nv5941)