Join The Esoterics for KANON:
Arvo Pärt’s Canon of repentance
In KANON, The Esoterics will perform two works in tribute to Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who was killed in her Moscow apartment building in October 2006.
An outspoken reporter and human rights activist, Politkovskaya was known for her coverage of the conflict in Chechnya as well as her opposition to Russian president Vladimir Putin. In response to her tragic death, Estonian composer Arvo Pärt made a significant global pronouncement: that every concert performance of his works in the ensuing year would be dedicated to Anna’s memory.
The Esoterics will extend Pärt’s international tribute into the Pacific Northwest with a performance of his longest a cappella choral work to date, Kanon pokajanen [Canon of repentance]. After two years of studying these sacred verses by the 8th-century St Andrew of Crete, Pärt completed this concert-length setting of the Orthodox liturgy in 1997. The Slavonic strophes of this ancient rite made a profound impression upon Pärt, one that his Kanon shares with the rest of the world.
Pärt’s Kanon is not the only piece in the program that is dedicated to Anna Politkovskaya. The Esoterics will also honor Anna’s life and bravery with a world-premiere composition by Banks entitled Vitam impendere vero, from the Latin phrase “to risk life for truth.” In the piece, a soloist will sing phrases from Politkovskaya’s final article, published posthumously and translated into English, while the choir sings setting of three poems by the acclaimed Russian poetess Marina Tsvetayeva. These parallel texts explore the concept of truth; while Politkovskaya’s article details her ultimately fatal commitment to reporting the atrocities that she witnessed, Tsvetayeva’s poems employ vivid imagery to portray the inter-relationships between life, death, fear, and courage.
Please join The Esoterics for this tribute to Anna’s unmitigated courage and profound commitment to social justice. .
The Esoterics’ KANON performance dates and locations are as follows:
Saturday • 2 February • 8 pm • Tacoma
Christ Episcopal Church • 310 N K St
Sunday • 3 February • 7 pm • Lynnwood (NEW VENUE)
Trinity Lutheran Church • 6215 196th St SW
Saturday • 9 February • 8 pm • Seattle
St Joseph’s Catholic Church • 732 18th Ave E
Sunday • 10 February • 3 pm • West Seattle
Holy Rosary Catholic Church • 4139 42nd Ave SW
Tickets are $20 at the door, $18 in advance, $15 for students,
seniors, the un(der)employed, and the differently-abled. Discounts
are available for groups of five or more at $12 per person.
Active singers of any choral group may attend for only $10.
Advance tickets are available online at www.TheEsoterics.org
(through PayPal.com), or reserved by phone at 206.935.7779.
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