A Palestinian’s concerto is premiered in a US synagogue
mainThe Detroit Symphony has an unusual event coming up this week.
A cello concerto commission it awarded to the US composer Mohammed Fairouz, who is of Palestinian and Gulf origin, will receive its world premiere in a Detroit synagogue, Congregation Shaarey Zedek. And the soloist will be Maya Beiser, who was born in Israel.
‘Desert Sorrows’, a half-hour work for amplified cello and large orchestra, draws its themes from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The protagonists discuss the work here with Detroit critic Mark Stryker.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. I’d like to hear it. I wish I were in Detroit (and that is not a sentence you will often hear me say).
Jeffrey,
First of all, you can hear the concerto by tuning into the orchestra’s (free) webcast on Saturday at http://www.dso.org, 8 p.m. EST (GMT – 5)
Second, you should visit Detroit. It’s an amazing place culturally.