For Immediate Release: October 17, 2007
Banks honored for composition
The Esoterics' founding director receives two important awards
SEATTLE - As The Esoterics prepares for one of the most important performances in its history on October 20th, the group's founding director has received some exciting news. Eric Banks was awarded a 2007 Washington State Arts Commission / Artists' Trust Fellowship. These merit-based, unrestricted awards of $6,500 are given to "practicing professional artists of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability." The application process is extremely competitive: Artist Trust gave only two awards to composers in this two-year cycle.
"Of course, this is a tremendous honor," says Banks. "With everything going on with The Esoterics and my teaching at Cornish [Banks has been an instructor at Cornish since 2004], it's difficult to find time for composition. Now, not only will I have the motivation, but also the financial support to set aside a chunk of time for writing. It's fantastic!"
The news from the Artist Trust comes fast on the heels of another honor for Banks. This summer, he received an $8,000 award from the City of Seattle Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs to complete his epic, seven-part composition setting text and chant from the ancient Zoroastrian creation myth. The Esoterics premiered the first movement of the piece in July 2007, and the group is looking forward to presenting the entire work in October of 2008 during its 15th Anniversary season.
In addition to his impressive portfolio of composed works, Banks' applications might have stood out because of his commitment to exposing Western audiences to Eastern religions. In both applications, Banks included excerpts from Twelve Qur'anic visions, a piece that The Esoterics will perform this coming Saturday as part of their RU'IA concert series.
The upcoming concert is particularly important for the group. They have chosen to sing at a secular venue, the Olympic Sculpture Park Pavilion, so as to attract a wider audience and to provide a more appropriate back-drop for the Islamic-inspired texts. With RU'IA, they are also debuting super-title translations of all the texts they perform so as to enhance the audience experience. In addition to Banks' Twelve Qur'anic visions, the group will perform works by Hussein Janmohamed, Bern Herbolsheimer, and Ton de Leeuw.
ATTENTION: The Olympic Sculpture Park Pavilion has limited seating. Season subscribers should RSVP for this Seattle concert (206.935.7779), and all audience members are encouraged to arrive early on October 20th concert for best seating.
The Esoterics' RU'IA performance dates and locations are as follows:
Saturday . 20 October . 8 pm . Seattle (NEW VENUE)
Olympic Sculpture Park Pavilion . 2901 Western Ave
Sunday . 21 October . 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.
The Esoterics has presented dozens of local and international premieres, and has tackled the most challenging works of 20th and 21st century choral repertoire. Now in its fourteenth season with founding director Eric Banks, the ensemble has drawn national and international praise for presenting the many styles that comprise contemporary choral music. In 2001, 2003, and 2006, The Esoterics' commitment to innovative concert repertoire was nationally recognized when ASCAP and Chorus America ed the ensemble its coveted Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. The ensemble was also honored to be selected as the only North American chorus to compete at the 2000 International Choral Festival in Cork, Ireland, the 2001 International Choral Festival in Tolosa, Spain, and the 2006 Harald Andersén International Choir Competition in Helsinki (Finland).
The Esoterics' Season 2007 has been made possible by grants from 4 Culture, ArtsFund, The Horizons Foundation, Meet the Composer, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Seattle Foundation, City of Seattle Mayor's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Washington State Arts Commission, Classical King FM 98.1, and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
If you have additional questions about the RU'IA concerts or The Esoterics (media contact only), please contact Bayta Maring ().