Chelsea Music Festival: Beloved of the Sky
$55.20
- Sonya Belaya, soprano
- Jonathan Ong, violin
- Lisa Lee, violin
- Dorothy Ro, violin
- Tomotaka Seki, violin
- Max Tan, violin
- Amadi Azikiwe, viola
- Abigail Rojansky, viola
- Ayako Tahara, viola
- Jonathan Dormand, cello
- Angela Lee, cello
- Caleb van der Swaagh, cello
- Nathaniel Chase, double bass
- Ken-David Masur, conductor
Iman Habibi — Âhūye Kūhī ("Mountain Gazelle") (for violin & cello)
Antonín Dvořák — Cypresses for string quartet, B. 152
Giacomo Puccini — I Crisantemi ("Chrysanthemums")
Iman Habibi — ey-saba
Gustav Holst — Four Songs for Voice and Violin, Op. 35
Iman Habibi — Beloved of the Sky (world premiere; for string quartet)
Sung Jin Hong — Kennst Du das Land (world premiere; for soprano & string orchestra)
Acclaimed soprano Sonya Headlam is featured throughout the concert in songs by Dvořák, Gustav Holst, Florence Price, as well two World Premiere Performances.
The first, Beloved of the Sky, written by 2023 Composer-in-Residence Iman Habibi is inspired by the work by Canadian painter, Emily Carr, titled Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky, of an unusually tall isolated tree, reaching up to a bright spot in the center of the sky.
Closing out the evening’s performance, Sung Jin Hong's Kennst Du das Land ("Do you know the land") for string orchestra and soprano will be given its premiere performance. With text inspired by one of Goethe's most celebrated poems about a heroine’s yearning, her vision—a dream of a place where humans and nature can be reconciled and live in peaceful coexistence.
Artwork by the Gleaning Project.
Our intermission curated reception features Rhubarb Hospitality Collection, partnering with Rethink Food, an organization working to bridge the gap between excess food and the communities that need it.
This evening's concert references an array of beings who consider Earth their home—gazelles, cypresses, roses & chrysanthemums —as well as the shared conditions we experience—wind, fire, wonder, and bewilderment as we take in the natural world.