Recording of Mohammed Fairouz's 'In The Shadow Of No Towers' Out Now

The premiere recording of composer Mohammed Fairouz's latest symphonic work, In The Shadow of No Towers (Symphony No. 4 for Wind Ensemble), was released on Naxos on Tuesday, November 19.

Led by Artistic Director Paul Popiel, the University of Kansas Wind performs the 35-minute piece, along with the first recording of Philip Glass's Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra (arranged for wind ensemble by Mark Lortz), with soloists Gwendolyn Burgett and Ji Hye Jung. In the Shadow of No Towers is the second Naxos disc this year to feature Fairouz's music, following Native Informant, a selection of chamber works released in March to considerable acclaim.

Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman's book of the same name, In the Shadow of No Towers was catalyzed by discussions between Fairouz and Spiegelman. The 40-minute, four-movement work begins with the disasters of September 11, 2001, and explores the unfolding of a post-9/11 reality. Balancing serious reflection and satire, the four-movement piece plays on the martial associations of the wind band genre while slyly subverting them with sardonic wit and unmistakable emotional impact.

Comments Spiegelman, best known for his Holocaust memoir Maus, "I'm moved by the scary, somber and seriously silly symphony he has made... I'm honored that the composer found an echo in my work that allowed him to strike a responsive chord and express his own complex responses to post 9-11 America. He emerges from the rubble with a very tony piece of highbrow cartoon music."

Reviewing the work's premiere, Steve Smith of The New York Times wrote, "One of America's most esteemed concert bands, the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble, came to Carnegie Hall to introduce a commissioned work with the potential to resonate well beyond the college circuit, Mohammed Fairouz's Symphony No. 4...

"The notion of an Arab-American artist addressing Sept. 11 with an ostensibly lowbrow mix of band music and comics might have seemed paradoxical, but what resulted is technically impressive, consistently imaginative and in its finest stretches deeply moving... The ensemble, conducted by Paul W. Popiel, performed with polish, assurance, and copious spirit, eliciting a rousing ovation for its members and for Mr. Fairouz."

In the Shadow of No Towers has already been taken up by several of the nation's leading wind bands, including the Ohio State University Wind Symphony, the University of Texas Wind Ensemble, and the MTSU Wind Ensemble (Tennessee). The piece has also become part of the curriculum for "Catastrophe and Memory," a philosophy course taught by Prof. James Schmidt at Boston University. In the Shadow of No Towers was commissioned by Reach Out, Kansas, Inc., an organization founded with the aim of generating a common appreciation for music, and for different cultures' identities and practices.

Mohammed Fairouz forms a focal point of "Listening to the Other: Mideast Musical Dialogues," December 2 - 8 at UCLA, a groundbreaking week of public performances, master classes and panel discussions. With diverse co-sponsorship and hundreds of UCLA students participating, the week will highlight the important role music can play in promoting cross-cultural understanding and transnational reconciliation. "Listening to the Other" culminates in a major concert at Royce Hall on Sunday evening, December 8, with the West Coast premieres of Fairouz's Tahrir for clarinet and orchestra (with soloist David Krakauer), and Symphony No. 3, "Poems and Prayers," for mezzo-soprano, chorus, and orchestra. Krakauer and mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke perform Tahwidah at the Hammer Museum in LA on December 4, and two of Fairouz's chamber and vocal works are heard alongside those of Israeli composers at Schoenberg Hall on December 5. For more information, visit www.listeningtotheother.org.

In addition, the adventurous ensemble wild Up gives the West Coast premiere of Fairouz's audacious Pierrot Lunaire, setting poems of Wayne Koestenbaum, at Art Share in Los Angeles on December 13. Chris Rountree conducts.

Mohammed Fairouz, born in 1985, is one of the most frequently performed, commissioned, and recorded composers of his generation. Hailed by The New York Times as "an important new artistic voice" and by BBC World News as "one of the most talented composers of his generation," Fairouz integrates Middle-Eastern modes into Western structures, to deeply expressive effect. His large-scale works, including four symphonies and an opera, engage major geopolitical and philosophical themes with persuasive craft and a marked seriousness of purpose. His solo and chamber music attains an "intoxicating intimacy," according to New York's WQXR.

Fairouz's cosmopolitan outlook reflects his transatlantic upbringing and extensive travels. His catalog encompasses virtually every genre, including opera, symphonies, ensemble works, chamber and solo pieces, choral settings, and electronic music. Prominent advocates of his instrumental music include the Borromeo String Quartet, The Imani Winds, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, and clarinetist David Krakauer, who all appear on his Naxos portrait disc, Native Informant; The Knights Chamber Orchestra, Metropolis Ensemble, and conductor Gunther Schuller.

Fairouz, described by Gramophone as "a post-millennial Schubert," has composed an opera (with a second in progress), thirteen song cycles, and hundreds of art songs. Among the eminent singers that have promoted his wealth of vocal music are Kate Lindsey, Sasha Cooke, D'Anna Fortunato, Mellissa Hughes, David Kravitz and Randall Scarlata.

Commissions have come from the Detroit and Alabama Symphony Orchestras, Rachel Barton Pine, Maya Beiser, Borromeo Quartet, Imani Winds, New York Festival of Song, Da Capo Chamber Players, New Juilliard Ensemble, Cantus Vocal Ensemble, Cygnus Ensemble, Counter)induction, Musicians for Harmony, Cantori New York, Back Bay Chorale, Reach Out Kansas, and many others. Recordings are available on the Naxos, Innova, Bridge, Dorian Sono Luminus, Cedille, Albany, GM/Living Archive, and GPR labels.

Mohammed Fairouz was chosen by the BBC to be a featured artist for the television series Collaboration Culture, which aired globally on BBC World Service TV (viewership approximately 70 million). He has been heard in interviews on nationally syndicated shows such as NPR's All Things Considered, BBC/PRI's The World, and The Bob Edwards Show. He has been profiledin the Wall Street Journal, Symphony Magazine, Strings Magazine, New Music Box, and the Houston Chronicle, among others.

His principal teachers in composition have included György Ligeti, Gunther Schuller, and Richard Danielpour, with studies at the Curtis Institute and New England Conservatory. Fairouz's works are published by Peermusic Classical. He lives in New York City.

To post a comment, you must register and login.