Celebrity Series of Boston: Karim Sulayman, tenor & Sean Shibe, guitar

• Sean Shibe, guitar
• Karim Sulayman, tenor

Henry Purcell — "Music for a while" from Oedipus, Z. 583
John Dowland — Praeludium in G
John Dowland — A Fancy, P. 6
John Dowland — Time stands still
Giulio Caccini — Dalla porta d'oriente
Claudio Monteverdi — Sì dolce è'l tormento, SV 332
Claudio Monteverdi — La mia turca che d'amor, SV 310
Traditional — La prima vez (Sephardic)
Anonymous — Lamma bada yatathanna (Arab-Andalusian muwashshah)
Sayed Darwish — El helwa di
Fairuz — Li Beirut
Jonathan Harvey — Sufi Dance
Layale Chaker — A Butterfly in New York
Toru Takemitsu — In the woods ("I. Wainscot Pond")
Benjamin Britten — Songs from the Chinese, Op. 58

Karim Sulayman and Sean Shibe, two fascinating artists with wide-ranging performance interests and big ideas, make Celebrity Series debuts in this beautifully eclectic recital that examines the relationship between the East and the West. The program brings together 16th- and 17th-century Italian and English works; traditional Sephardic and Arab-Andalusian songs; Benjamin Britten's settings of translated poems, Songs from the Chinese; 20th-century and contemporary compositions; and more.

This performance will be presented in person at the Longy School of Music's Pickman Concert Hall on November 14; it will also be recorded and streamed online November 16-22.

About Celebrity Series of Boston

https://www.celebrityseries.org/

About Sean Shibe, guitar

One of the most versatile guitarists performing today, Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe's innovative approach to his instrument has enhanced his reputation for being "the most interesting voice on the guitar for a generation." (Gramophone) A great admirer of the masterful composers of the past, Shibe is equally committed to new music. Alongside his transcriptions of Bach's lute suites and 17th-century Scottish lute manuscripts, he continues to explore, experiment, and expand the repertoire for his instrument with recent works and new commissions, including a solo work by Thomas Adès and collaboration with Cassandra Miller and Dunedin Consort.

https://seanshibe.com/

About Karim Sulayman, tenor

Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman, a 2019 Grammy Award winner for Best Classical Solo Vocal, is a sophisticated and versatile artist consistently praised for his sensitive and intelligent musicianship, riveting stage presence, and beautiful voice. Sulayman earns acclaim for his thought-provoking programming and recording projects, and maintains a busy career on the world's opera and concert stages, in programs that range from often-heard classical favorites to new work, to audacious commissions and curatorial projects. In 2022, he debuted the widely acclaimed Unholy Wars, a program that recontextualizes Italian Renaissance music about the Crusades through an Arab-American lens, paired with a new work by American composer Mary Kouyoumdjian.

https://www.karimsulayman.com/