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February 13, 2006
Golijov takes center stage at Emory

BY Sally Corbett

Music fans and scholars alike are expected to gather this work at Emory to hear and discover the works of composer Osvaldo Golijov.

As many as 2,500 people are expected for the university’s Golijov celebration, which runs Feb. 2–18, and will explore the work of one of today’s most-talked about international composers. Known for genre-busting instrumental and vocal works inspired by a spectrum of cultures and musical traditions, Golijov’s music has been featured at many festivals, including one currently being held at Lincoln Center in New York.

The New York Times has hailed Golijov as a composer “who will change the way music is played and heard.” Golijov was born in Argentina to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, studied in Israel and the United States, and currently teaches in Massachusetts.

2006 Goldwasser Lectureship–Golijov Symposium and Concert
On Feb. 14 the Goldwasser Lectureship in Religion and the Arts features a 2:30 p.m. symposium on the religious themes in Golijov’s work (free; Burlington Road Building) and an 8 p.m. concert by St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) and clarinetist Todd Palmer ($20; discount category members, $15; Emory students and afternoon symposium participants, free; Performing Arts Studio).

A recorded Golijov interview and presentations on such topics as “Golijov and Bach” and “Lamentation, Violence, Ecstasy and Desolation Expressed in Golijov’s Music” will be held prior to a Q&A. Panelists for the session include Emory music faculty members Lynn Bertrand (a sacred music scholar), Stephen Crist (a Bach scholar) and musician and composer Steve Everett; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) conductor Robert Spano; SLSQ members and Todd Palmer; Rabbi Analia Bortz, Congregation Or Hadash; and Emory graduate students who have researched Golijov’s music.

The Feb. 14 evening concert includes three works discussed in the symposium: “Yiddishbbuk,” “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” and “Tenebrae.”

La Pasión segun San Marcos
The atabaque of Western Africa and the berimbau from Brazil are among the dozens of instruments that will be heard for the first time on the Schwartz Center stage. The historical event is part of the Flora Glenn Candler Series, which welcomes Orquesta La Pasión, Schola Cantorum de Caracas, Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza, soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird, Capoeira dancer and berimbau player Deraldo Ferreira, vocalist and dancer Reynaldo Gonzalez Fernandez, members of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Robert Spano for the sold-out Feb. 16–18 Atlanta premiere run of Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos (The Passion According to St. Mark). La Pasión, discussed in Tuesday’s symposium, is a musical interpretation of St. Mark’s story of the days leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion.

Lectures and masterclass
Emory joined with the ASO to present programs that featured Goljov. On Feb. 2, background on La Pasión was presented by Ken Meltzer, ASO World Stages Initiative project coordinator, during the Emory’s “Perspectives on Performance” class. Emory scholars broadened the community perspective on Golijov in the ASO program “Lectures of Note.”

Among them was a panel on Jan. 31 that featured Gail O’Day, associate dean of faculty and academic affairs of the Candler School of Theology, and a discussion on Feb. 7 by Emory Music senior lecturer Kristin Wendland that explored South American music.

Singers from Emory, the Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde and Georgia State University will have a masterclass with conductor Maria Guinand and the Schola Cantorum de Caracas, Emory Coca-Cola Artists in Residence, at 10 a.m. on Feb. 18. For masterclass information, call 404-733-5038.

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