If in Washington DC, don’t miss a special performance event this Thursday (March 6) at the Freer Art Gallery. The New York-based new-music ensemble ModernWorks will perform fascinating works by Turkish composers, which have been composed for Turkish as well as Western instruments. The evening will also feature a performance by the modern dancer Nejla Yatkin, founder of the NY2 Dance company (above image), who will perform a new choreography inspired by the famed Turkish photojournalist Ara Güler. An exhibition of Güler’s photographs of archaeological and historical sites in Anatolia is currently on show at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
ModernWorks will perform Turkish-American composer Kamran Ince’s ‘Lines’ (for clarinet and piano) and ‘Asumani’ (for cello and flute), both American premieres. Ince is a seasoned composer known for combining Turkish, Balkan, Byzantium and Ottoman music with the tradition of European art music. This will be followed with the world premiere of the electro-acoustic music composer Tolga Tüzün’s ‘Five Preludes’ (for solo cello). The music of two Iranian composers will fill out the evening: Reza Vali’s ‘Folk Songs’, an unusual ensemble of flute, cello, percussion and crystal glasses, will be performed, as well as the US-based Kazem Davoudian’s solos on traditional instruments such as a santur (a stringed instrument with the strings stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board) and a tonbak (a goblet drum), which Davoudian is a master of.
The evening will begin with a pre-concert reception at 6.15pm, with snacks provided by the Turkish Embassy (pastries, red lentil balls, stuffed grape leaves and baklava). The concert will commence at 7.30pm. Click here to reserve free tickets.