Welcome to The Esoterics’
fifteenth season of a cappella innovation!
At the end of yet another year of excitement and accomplishment, I want to welcome you to The Esoterics' fifteenth season! The theme of this anniversary concert season - keeping time - is meant to embrace how we interact with each other and our art as we commemorate the important events in our lives. As you read through this year's brochure, you will see that 2008 is an eventful year in the history of choral music. This year marks the centenary of three renowned choral composers - Hugo Distler, Olivier Messiæn, and Elliott Carter - each of whom The Esoterics will celebrate in concert. A profilic choral composer who breathed new life into the German Lutheran chorale, the "degenerate" genius of Hugo Distler will be remembered this June. Born only a day apart nearly a century ago, Olivier Messiæn and Elliott Carter cultivated vasty different musical careers: Messiæn's a cappella imagination was enshrouded in mythology and mysticism, and Carter's quintessential neoclassicism continues as his life nears the century mark. The Esoterics will celebrate the choral prowess of both Messiæn and Carter at their centenary in December. Normally, the group celebrates only one choral centennial each year. However, each of these composers is so important to choral music history, that none of them should be omitted.
In February, the first concert of this year, the ensemble will premiere Kanon pokajanen [Canon of repentance], the longest unaccompanied choral work written by the esteemed Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. This concert will be performed in memory of the slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. In May, The Esoterics' all-male counterpart ÆDONIS joins The Esoterics' concert season with a concert of songs around expectation and hope. In October, the group will premiere The seven creations, my own concert-length choral opera in seven movements. This opera will incorporate some of the world's oldest melodies to retell the creation story of the ancient Persians. In April, The Esoterics and ÆDONIS will join forces to present an unforgettable fifteenth anniversary concert. The repertoire of this concert will include many of the group's favorites pieces - one from each year since the ensemble's founding - as well as three new premiere commissions from the winners of this year's POLYPHONOS competition: Leonard Enns, Scott Perkins, and Nathan Stumpff.
In addition to this season of SIX concerts, the ensemble will release two new recordings in the upcoming year. MANDALA - our recording of choral meditations inspired by the Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu, Sufi, and Taoist wisdom of the East - will be available in mid-December 2007. RU'IA - our much-anticipated ninth CD, of music inspired by Islam - will be coming to you in October of 2008. The Esoterics will also be recording OURANIA - our tenth CD, of celestial music by Richard Strauss, Donald Skirvin, Bo Holten, and Heinrich Poos - for release in early 2009. In addition to these CDs, next year will also include the group's planning for a tour to India in the spring of 2009. As a result of my research in Zoroastrian chant, The Esoterics has been invited to northwestern India to premiere The seven creations. The Esoterics will be the first American chorus ever to tour in India, and hope to schedule several musical events in the upcoming year to raise funds for this fantastic opportunity.
All of the things that The Esoterics has accomplished and all of the good fortune that it has enjoyed is due the devotion of our volunteers, and the creative spirit, willing ears, and unwavering support of YOU - our audience! The Esoterics and I are so grateful for your continued support. We will continue to dedicate ourselves to making the contemporary choral art beautiful and accessible to everyone, and to keeping our ticket prices as low as possible - so that everyone who wants to attend our concerts actually CAN. If you would like to support The Esoterics' mission - to perform and perpetuate contemporary a cappella choral setting of poetry, philosophy, and spiritual writings from around the world - please consider making a tax-deductible donation, or purchase subscriptions or recordings for yourself and your music-loving friends. If you wish, we invite you to donate your time and talents to The Esoterics as a volunteer. Again, please accept my heartfelt thanks for all that you have done to support The Esoterics in the past year. You are responsible for keeping the choral art alive and resounding throughout the Puget Sound. The Esoterics simply could not do what it does nearly as well without you!
The art that we create today reflects our understanding of the world - an insight that every future generation will inherit.
Eric Banks
Artistic Director, The Esoterics