Join the BF Duo, Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber, and the Emory University Symphony Orchestra directed by Paul Bhasin as they give the world premiere of Nina Shekhar’s TĀLA.
8pm. FREE, no tickets required. But please do arrive early to guarantee a seat!
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts: Emerson Concert Hall | 1700 North Decatur Rd.
TĀLA is a double concerto for saxophone and percussion, instruments that have both found a significant place in Carnatic music. The saxophone first came to India in the 19th century when French saxophonist Ali Ben Sou Alle performed with the Maharaja of Mysore's royal band. Due to its timbral similarity to Indian wind instruments like the shehnai and legendary Carnatic saxophonists such as Kadri Gopalnath popularizing the instrument in India, the saxophone gradually became a central instrument in the Carnatic genre. Similarly, percussion is extremely important in Carnatic music, which includes highly complex and mathematical rhythmic cycles.
The Sanskrit word tāla literally means “clap” and refers to a musical meter, or a beat pattern that measures musical time. In Indian classical music, tāla denotes a repeating rhythmic cycle consisting of a fixed number of beats or mātrā, sometimes ranging from a short three-beat cycle to as long as 128-beat cycles. This piece, TĀLA , takes inspiration from the concept of beat cycles and includes extended phrases that repeat over time. While traditional Indian music often includes characteristic cadences
that signify the end of a phrase (and therefore herald the start of a new cycle), this piece uses phrases that begin the same way but devolve differently as they progress to the end of each concurrent cycle. The piece also incorporates microtonal ornamentation reminiscent of embellishment figures found in Indian folk music.
Commissioned by Bent Frequency and the Emory University Orchestra.
Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works.
https://www.instagram.com/ninashekhar/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA%3D%3D
“Tart and Compelling” – New York Times
“Orchestral Supernova” – LA Times
“Lucid and luminous, Shekhar’s soundworld is one to bask in…. Shekhar is one of those rare composers who opens my ears a little wider each time I hear her music.” – CSO Review in the Chicago Tribune
This program is supported by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, and the Amphion Foundation.
