a pop-up musical installation
Secrets of Dawn
Jewish, Indian, Persian, Turkish and Arab music, poetry and dance inspired by the mystery of Dawn
"Dawn... like petals of drenched roses."
Bhanuji Rao,
(tr. Jayanta Mahapatra)
ABOUT
Today, courtesy of the Internet, musical styles from all ages exist at once, and no single style represents the moment. Secrets of Dawn is taking advantage of this avalanche of information as a unique opportunity for a large-scale collaborative creation.
The "Secrets" began from an idea to bring together a diverse group of composers/performers of original music specifically rooted in Middle Eastern folklore, for a two week-long residency at Boston University.
We like to think of the eventual piece as a musical garden of sorts, not a concert. Following the immersive workshop, the final three days culminated in several pop-up installations on campus. Groups of students and visiting musicians staged semi-improvised musical "flash-mobs" taking place at a certain pre-determined time.
The workshop culminated in a musical installation that uses the phenomena of Dawn across the various musical cultures of the Middle East as a unifying thread.
Selected soloists and community members acted as “messengers” — presenting members of the audience with individual “gifts” of a poem, or a song, prompting transformative experience between strangers attending the installation.
Secrets of Dawn, as well as the audience reaction to it, was selectively video-taped and recorded throughout the three weeks period. During the final night, a larger event, with over thiry musicians, was staged at the Ellipse building on Bay State Road. Audience members were welcome to wander in and out, experience the sound and visuals from different angles of the venue, stay as long as they wish, or participate in the dawn poetry pit-stop at the entrance.
Secrets of Dawn, Boston University
Reactions from Audience Members
PARTICIPANTS
Hankus Netsky
clarinet, piano
Pouya Shabanpour
daf, dareye
Yair Harel
percussion
Nori Jacoby
viola
Yonatan Niv
cello
Farzin Denghan
kamanche
Hamed Tabkhi
tar, setar
Deepti Navaratna
voice
Eden McAdam Somer
violin / voice
Parham Haghighi
voice
Nash Tomey
double bass
Matthew Shifrin
voice/accordion
Matti Kovler
piano
Matinee Shaker
voice
Orlando Cela
flute
Trey Pratt
conductor
Christina Smith
voice
Renee Francis Piper
voice
Rachel Steinberg
voice
Magdelena Tang
voice
Jonathan Mott
voice
Benjamin Low
voice
