CLICK FOR YOUTUBE LIVESTREAM

Program

Niloufar Nourbakhsh – An Aria for the Executive Order for soprano + piano

José Martínez – Refused for soprano, cello, + bass drum

Niloufar Nourbakhsh – Darkness of the Womb for soprano, piano, + electronics

Victor E. Márquez-Barrios – Forms of Separation for clarinet, soprano saxophone, + recorded track

In 2018, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble presented “Hub of the Musiverse,” a concert which featured music of immigrant composers from seven different countries who have settled in the Boston area to study, work, and pursue their artistic endeavors. Now we present “Hub of the Musiverse: Part 2,” in which the ensemble features the works of an additional three immigrant composers. In these works, the composers draw inspiration from immigration stories ––whether their own personal journey, or commentary of contemporary political issues. Currently, we plan on performing the works of José Martínez (Colombia), Victor Márquez-Barrios (Venezuela), and Niloufar Nourbakhsh (Iran). 

Martínez’ music incorporates a wide range of influences from Colombian folk tunes to contemporary composition techniques, while borrowing from Latin music, heavy metal and audio sampling techniques.His main musical interest is the idiosyncratic synthesis of timbral examination, Latin American vernacular music, sociopolitics, and technology. In his chamber work, “Refused,” Martínez draws text from an actual letter he received from the Government of Canada, denying his visiting visa application multiple times.

Marquez-Barrios's work is a reflection on three different modalities of separation: Zero Tolerancia is about forced detachment, in this case in response to the despicable dismemberment of families at the border between the U.S. and Mexico in 2018. Quédateme un poco más is a musical setting of a poem by Andrés Eloy Blanco, one of Venezuela’s most important poets. The text can be interpreted as an impassioned plea directed at a loved one who is about to leave, inevitably. The last movement, titled Homesick Waltz, isn’t only about physical detachment but about separation in time, and about a place that no longer exists in its physical form, only in my memory.

Continuing with themes of systemic denial in immigration, Nourbakhsh’s piece, “An Aria for the Executive Order,” is a reaction to President Donald J. Trump’s Travel Ban Executive Order 13769. Nourbakhsh is a luminary in the contemporary classical scene – in addition to being recognized for her artistry as a composer and pianist, she is a champion for Iranian and women artists, founding the Iranian Female Composers Association in 2017.