A More Convenient Season
World Premiere by composer Yotam Haber, commissioned by Tom Blount
CALL FOR FEMALE SOLOISTSA More Convenient Season will feature 4 female soloists between the ages of 11 – 22. Two soloists will be sopranos and two will be altos (Soprano 1, Soprano 2, Alto 1, Alto 2). All should have confident, clear voices without a lot of vibrato, and are comfortable with new music and have the ability to read music. Soloists need to be able to commit to attending rehearsals the week of September 15, the performance on September 21, and occasional rehearsals that will be scheduled throughout the year.
Interested individuals should submit a video audition to mkatrina@uab.edu by Sunday, May 5 that includes the following:
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of 1963
Through the commissioning of a new work, UAB's Alys Stephens Center and philanthropist Tom Blount are calling on the healing power of the arts to commemorate an event that became a turning point for the entire world. An event that changed us all.
On September 15, 1963, a box of dynamite exploded on the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a central meeting place for leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Four children were killed and nearly two dozen people were injured. This project is an evening-length commission commemorating the 50th anniversary of this tragic event, reflecting on where we've come as a society, and celebrating the spirit of hope that Birmingham's struggles have inspired in countless human rights movements around the world. The ASC is developing and producing community events and performances for the week of Sept. 15, 2013, to honor the memory of the four girls and engage the community through the healing power of the arts. The culminating event of that week will be the world premiere of a new work co-commissioned by the Alys Stephens Center and philanthropist Tom Blount.
The work, written by acclaimed composer Yotam Haber, will feature the Alabama Symphony Orchestra led by guest conductor Damon Gupton and the 16th Street Baptist Church Choir combined with children from across Birmingham. It will incorporate historical sound recordings from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute's Oral History Project and will be digitally mastered by Philip White. This project explores not only the tragic event itself, but also larger issues of extremism that cross boundaries of civil rights, race and religion. The effects of the bombing in 1963 and the Civil Rights Act it spurred can still be seen in human rights movements around the world, and the events in Birmingham serve as a springboard in the struggle for equality for all. The events and performance in 2013 will offer a time of community reflection on the past, evaluation of the present and hopeful dialogue about the future.
The piece, "A More Convenient Season" is named from the text of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
"…who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."
In Spring 2014, The Alys Stephens Center will also premiere the work on the West Coast in conjunction with Cal Arts and featuring the Cal Arts Orchestra at REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney / CalArts Theatre.)
Performances
- Saturday, September 21, 2013 · 8 PM
A: $60.50 · B: $49.50 · C: $37.50 · tickets
Venue
- Jemison Concert Hall
Continue The Experience
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COMMENTS FROM THE COMPOSER
I will be composing a score that owes a debt to the cultural, historical, and musical legacy of the South, while emerging as a new, personal reaction in my own voice, in a fresh vocabulary of sound, through my own history, perception and experiences coming to America as an immigrant after a childhood in Israel and Nigeria. I am drawn to this project for multiple reasons: I am fascinated by the questions of Diaspora and voice that surround this rich history that is so central to our understanding of American history and eager to explore the musical possibilities laden in the materials I unearth. I also feel a personal point of connection to this project, which has deeply inspired my involvement, namely the ongoing involvement of Jewish activists in the Civil Rights Movement. In the spirit of Dr. Henry Moskowitz, founder of the NAACP, and the ongoing history of African American – Jewish dialogue, I wish to create a work that delves into larger realms of the struggle for human rights, religious freedom and racial harmony.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Yotam Haber was born in Holland and grew up in Israel, Nigeria, and Milwaukee - his music is informed by those places. He received the 2007-2008 Frederic A. Juilliard/Walter Damrosch Rome Prize and a 2005 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Recent commissions include two works for Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor; and new works for Gabriel Kahane, Alarm Will Sound; 2012 Bang on a Can Summer Festival; the Neuvocalsolisten Stuttgart and ensemble l’arsenale; JACK Quartet, Cantori New York, and the Berlin-based Quartet New Generation. He is currently collaborating with MacArthur Prize Fellow Anna Schuleit on a large-scale project of 104 piano pieces inspired by 104 paintings, drawn from stories by the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard. Haber is the artistic director of MATA, the non-profit organization founded by Philip Glass, that has, since 1996, been dedicated to commissioning and presenting new works by young composers from around the world. His music is published by RAI Trade.
