The Esoterics & Skyros String Quartet: Ekstasia
$15-$25
Eric Banks — I am among them
Aaron Jay Kernis — Ecstatic meditations
Charlie Leftridge — Of seasons have I sung
The Esoterics unites with Skyros String Quartet to present vivid choral settings of poetry in pursuit of the divine; with rapturous texts from medieval Germany, post-industrial-revolution New England, and contemporary Seattle and Nebraska.
The a cappella portion of the program includes Pulitzer-winner Aaron Jay Kernis’ Ecstatic meditations (1999) and Eric Banks’ I am among them (2014). Skyros joins in for Tarik O’Regan’s The ecstasies above (2006) and Charlie Leftridge’s Of seasons have I sung (2015).
Drawing on such eclectic influences as jazz, renaissance polyphony, and the North African folk music of his mother’s heritage, O’Regan’s ecstasies weave bold modal harmonies into driving rhythms through strings and triple chorus to create an ethereal sonic portrayal of Edgar Allan Poe’s Israfel, a poetic reflection on the Muslim archangel of song.
Kernis’ four movement cycle (derived from texts of Mechtild of Magdeburg’s 13th-century tome The flowing light of divinity) uses perfectly matched musical textures to evoke imagery of holy inspiration ranging from divine love’s lilting, effortless flow to a fervently whirling dance.
The works of Banks and Leftridge consider the prospect of euphoric liberation in the hereafter. The text found in I am among them comes from the poetry of Seattle’s own Dan-Eric Slocum, best known locally as a longtime KOMO television and radio anchor. Banks’ seamless settings of fragments from Slocum’s unfinished writings grapple through the agony of illness to the promise of release. Leftridge’s setting of his own text traces the course of grief over loss, eventually leading toward a wish for the hope of eternal reunion in the afterlife.
Tickets: General admission is $25 at the door, or $22 when pre-ordered online. Student, senior, un(der)employed and differently-abled tickets are available at $18 at the door, or $15 in advance.