Leila Adu contributed to Zachary Woolfe’s 5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Choral Music in the New York Times
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Chatterbird presents the virtual world premiere of Mahakala Oratorio, by composer Leila Adu. Join us for this free event as chatterbird presents this one-of-a-kind video project, featuring contributions from interactive media artist Aaron Sherwood, along with the talents of Videographer Lauren Balthrop and Recording Engineer Kevin Edlin.
Mahakala Oratorio will feature 14 chatterbird musicians, led by conductor Joe Lee, along with the vocal talents of Rebekah Alexander and Leila Adu.
Following the world premiere, chatterbird will host a virtual Q&A panel with Adu, chatterbird musicians, and others involved in the recording process. The Q&A will be facilitated by Colleen Phelps, the Host of “Classically Speaking” on Nashville Public Radio.
Mahakala Oratorio’s inspiration draws directly from the Buddhist deity of the same name. Leila Adu adapted Plainsong Pujua of Mahakala, originally compiled by Lama Chimé Shore from ancient texts from the late Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche and the late Ven. Kalu Rinpoche, describing Mahakala as a tool to empower listeners to consider the idea of radical compassion in this era of social, political, and environmental extremism. “There are abusive states, new in the world. Look now all around! There are abusive states careless of all life, immersed in selfish wants. Burn the fog of apathy, burn the fog of apathy, burn the fog of apathy!” The music itself reflects Leila’s genre-mixing style, which draws on the traditional music of New Zealand; her informal training in punk, indie, and hip-hop as well as freely improvised music in the African-American free jazz tradition; and formal training for chamber ensemble and orchestra.
This project is supported in part by New Music USA, Tennessee Arts Commission, Metro Arts, Puffin Foundation West, LTD., and MediaTHE Foundation.
To find out more about Chatterbird or experience Mahakala Oratorio post-première:
http://www.chatterbird.org
Mahakala Oratorio Première & post-concert Q&A
- To find out more about Chatterbird or experience Mahakala Oratorio post-première: http://www.chatterbird.org
- Following the world premiere, chatterbird will host a virtual Q&A panel with Adu, chatterbird musicians, and others involved in the recording process. The Q&A will be facilitated by Colleen Phelps, the Host of “Classically Speaking” on Nashville Public Radio. Register HERE for the post-concert Q&A: https://bit.ly/3a3velH
Thursday, December 17: 7PM CST / 8PMEST (Fri Dec 18: Wellington NZ 2-2.30PM/Perth Aus 9-9.30am)
Watch Mahakala Oratorio Première
On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, Leila Adu-Gilmore’s Freedom Suite will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the beginning of The London Sinfonietta’s new season.
The London Sinfonietta begins its Southbank Centre season with a concert of music by established and emerging black composers, co-curated by leading composer and new music thinker George Lewis and experimental vocalist, movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener.
Partly inspired by the seismic changes in society over the summer, this varied and powerful programme addresses a range of under-represented points of view: Hannah Kendall’s unsettling Verdala explores the experience of the British West Indian Regiment in the First World War in her typically uncompromising and richly textured style, while Courtney Bryan’s intensely rhythmic Sanctum explores the sound of improvisation in Holiness-preaching traditions. The exciting music of Cuban composer Tania León begins the programme, while George Lewis’ energetic Assemblage provides a taste of what’s to come in his upcoming commission for the London Sinfonietta.
This concert is part of London Sinfonietta’s 2020/21 season curated as a response to the times in which we live. Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 on Wednesday 28 October, or watch the streamed video recording from Wednesday 25 November, the event brings new music not heard in the UK before to new audiences.
Jason Yarde Rude Awakening (arr. Yong) 6’
Leila Adu-Gilmore Freedom Suite I and II 10’
Hannah Kendall Verdala 6’
Tania León Indígena 9’
George Lewis Assemblage 15’
Courtney Bryan Sanctum (arr. Bryan) 12’
Elaine Mitchener vocalist
Vimbayi Kaziboni conductor
London Sinfonietta
Useful Chamber performs “Negative Space” from Freedom Suite
Leila Adu has been selected alongside eleven other artists to create and present new works this coming season at Brooklyn’s Roulette.
Roulette remains an essential and centralized place for artists to realize their creative visions, even in times of great uncertainty and as such, they began to work with artists in early March to build a safe, exciting, and unique body of new work. Pianist, singer, composer, and improviser Sonya Belaya, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, composer and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, artist and interdisciplinary designer Crystal Penalosa, and jazz performer and vibraphonist Joel Ross have been selected for year-long residencies. Commissioned artists include song-writer and vocalist Leila Adu; vocalist Ganavya Doraiswamy; alto saxophonist and composer Darius Jones; multidisciplinary performer and sound artist Luisa Muhr; sound artist and composer Teerapat Parnmongkol; interdisciplinary artist, composer, and pianist Mary Prescott; and composer and saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.
Each artist will present at Roulette in 2020–2021. The performances will be broadcast live from our theater, with the possibility of a limited in-person audience depending on what safety and public health guidelines allow.
Read more about this event here.
Leila Adu-Gilmore’s composition For Edna, featured on cellist Amanda Gookin’s new release, Forward Music Project 1.0, debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. The release features multimedia works for solo cello that elevate stories of feminine empowerment, commissioned by Gookin, who writes: “For mothers. For sisterhood. For brave storytellers and quiet listeners. I sing, I gasp, I fight, I breathe life into the work of these fearless artists. I founded Forward Music Project for you. And you are not alone.”
In For Edna, Adu-Gilmore sought to encapsulate the strength of women. “At first, I was going to write something physically and aurally demanding – hard. I then realized that our strength is perseverance and endurance, adaptability and openness, and connection to others.”
For more information and to purchase the album, visit the Bright Shiny Things website