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A Global Holiday Celebration with the Chicago Sinfonietta
Chicago Classical Music
By Jesse McQuarters
December 19, 2009
original link
You know you’re in for some non-traditional holiday fare when the
Japanese taiko drums stretched across the front of the stage just about
outnumber the Santa hats perched on the heads of the orchestra members.
In its “Global Holiday Celebration,” the Chicago Sinfonietta
presented music of the season with an international flair, interweaving
African chant, gypsy violin, Indian sarod, and many other elements into
a multicultural tapestry that reveled in the spirit of global musical brotherhood.
The Chicago-based JASC Tsukasa Taiko opened the program with KAI HA, or “ocean
wave,” a wildly theatrical drum piece with intricate rhythmic interplay
between four female players and their male counterparts on lower-pitched
drums. Two more percussionists sat behind the group, setting the rhythmic
pulse and shouting out instructions. Surprisingly, much of this underlying
pulse was triplet-based and swung, very much the same foundation as jazz.
Other highlights throughout the evening included UIC instructor Mwata Bowden’s
African-inspired Chant, with four vocalists vocalizing and undulating in
counterpoint with each other and their percussion accompaniment, the familiar
Feliz Navidad with standout trumpeter Edgar Campos leading the band, and
Donny Hathaway’s This Christmas with the talented vocal quartet Fourté.
The Chicago Community Chorus and student choruses from area high schools
also ably joined the Sinfonietta, although the acoustics of the cavernous
Harris Theater made it difficult to hear the nuances and articulation of
the CCC without amplification.
The most fascinating and instrumentally diverse piece of the night was
an arrangement of Joy to the World with Nicole Mitchell, Vikas Deo, Tatsu
Aoki and Steve Gibons taking solo turns on the wooden flute, sarod, Japanese
shamisen, and gypsy violin, respectively, as the Sinfonietta provided accompaniment.
Each brought a unique flavor to the traditional carol, although it’s
unfortunate that the jam-packed program couldn’t accommodate a short
demonstration by each player beforehand. In addition, the major-key accompaniment
at times seemed slightly at odds with the minor, microtonal and modal inflections
of the soloists, but nevertheless the piece was a fresh and unusual take
on a holiday classic.
Concluding with a heartfelt and soulful gospel-saturated Hallelujah Chorus
set against Handel’s original, the evening was a rousing celebration
of both musical diversity and the shared humanity that binds us together.
In this time of reflection, it was a shining example of how easy it can
be to enjoy the cultures of others, both halfway around the world and in
one’s own backyard.
Copyright © 2009 Chicago Classical Music