Joelle Khoury

Joelle Khoury
Background information
Born Beirut, Lebanon
Genres Jazz, Contemporary classical music
Occupation(s) Pianist, Composer, Instructor.
Years active 1995–present
Website joellek.com/Joelle_content.html

Joelle Khoury is a Lebanese-American[1] pianist and a jazz and contemporary classical music composer.[2][3]

Background

Born in Beirut in 1963, Joelle Khoury left Lebanon for the United States after the beginning of the Lebanese civil war. She obtained a degree in Economics and Musicology at George Mason University, Virginia. Returning to Lebanon several years later, she received a master's degree in philosophy from Saint Joseph University and a piano diploma from the Lebanese Higher Conservatory of Music.

She has been invited on Extra-muros residencies in France (2002 and 2004), Czech Republic (2006),[4] Switzerland (2011, through Pro Helvetia)[5] and the United-States (2013) as a MacDowell Colony fellow, where she worked on her multimedia performance Palais de femmes.[6]

For almost two decades, she has composed contemporary classical music pieces and concertos for chamber and philharmonic orchestras, as well as pieces for her own jazz quintet. Her idea of composition, not restricted to specific standard styles, eras, geographical spaces or music categories stricto sensu, led her toward contemporary music within complex jazz forms and non-traditional classical music structures. Rather than "orientalizing" her music – as a Lebanese composer – she always thought that "A true composition is the fruit of a unique idea, developed into a concept, based in what the composer has heard, aiming at expressing an individual point of view, a certain personality. Therefore it is neither "western" nor "oriental", taking into account the fact that we have all heard numerous styles of music […]".[7]

Her interest in philosophy led her, after years of musical production, towards the preparation of a PhD thesis on Gilles Deleuze.

Major achievements

In 1995, she founded In-Version, a jazz quintet performing original compositions which combine a contemporary bebop style with complex counterpoint lines. Tunes as Circles, Is it so!, Just when you least expect (from the album Is it so!) are typical examples of how melodies evolve on backing composite lines, which are as fundamental as the melody itself. The same concept is also encountered in some classical contemporary arrangements by the composer, with very complex and intricate backing lines, though smoothly supporting the simplest melodies.

Joelle Khoury, 2008, "Dream she is", Opera monodrama for woman's voice.

An Arabic opera monodrama for woman's voice (sung by Fadia Tomb El Hage), composed in 2008 and first played in Beirut by the Belgian chamber orchestra Fragments Ensemble,[8] was also performed on May 4, 2012, at Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria, by Kremerata Baltica (founded by Gidon Kremer in 1997) and in Switzerland, by the TaG ensemble.[9]

Middle Eastern traditional songs, rearranged on a contemporary classical music basis. Variations on Imaginary Folk Dances (string orchestra and voice) was commissioned by Kremerata Baltica for their 2012 concert, Arab-Baltic Spring, at Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria.[10] In 2014, the piece was performed again on May 29 in Fürth and in Würzburg, Germany, by the Kremerata, along with the piece Of Memories, Folks and I (string orchestra, percussion and voice).[11] Both pieces, conducted by Andris Veismanis,[12] are based on Middle Eastern folk music, and yet expressed in contemporary style, rendered by the Lebanese alto Fadia Tomb El Hage. The 2014 concert was live-streamed by the Bayerischer Rundfunk. A symphonic version of these two pieces was also performed in May 2013, by the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra at Saint Joseph University church, Beirut.

Morning Star is a Syriac traditional church song, rearranged for brass quintet and commissioned by Donne in Musica,[13] Italy, for a Christmas concert (Natale in Musica 2006). Donne in Musica also commissioned Getting along, a concerto for two marimbas and string orchestra, performed May 2008 in Bari, Italy.

Multimedia performances: A number of performances and recordings consisting of poems put into music (Music and poetry, recorded live in May 2003) or played in contemporary performances which gather poetry, acting, music and painting; among which are Senghor,[14] Électroésie[15], Les poètes témoignent[16] and Palais de femmes.[6]

Khoury has also published articles, including Times Goes One Way - Against the Classification of Arts,[17] and Die Geschichte - Ein göttliches Gedicht ("History, a divine poem"),[18] associating Bach's compositional style to Leibniz's Monadology.

Albums

Jazz

  • Tumbling up, In-Version, the Joelle Khoury Quintet. Compositions by J. Khoury, produced by Experimental art concept, 1999.
  • Is it so !, In-Version, the Joelle Khoury Quintet. Compositions by J. Khoury, produced by M. & J. Khoury, 2005.

Classical and opera

  • Music and poetry, Eleven chamber orchestra and voice pieces, based on German romantic poetry (Goethe, Heine, Novalis, Rilke). Sponsored by the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music and the Goethe Institute, Beirut. J. Khoury, piano and composition; Harout Fazlian, conductor. Recorded live on May 14, 2003 at Pierre Abou-Khater auditorium, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon. Produced by La CD-Thèque & Joelle khoury.
  • Dream she is, Arabic opera monodrama for woman's voice, composed for Fadia Tomb El-Hage. Work for Alto, five soloists and electronics. Text excerpts from Jacques Aswad's poetry. Alto: Fadia Tomb El-Hage; Conductor: Harout Fazlian. Recorded live in Beirut and performed by Fragments ensemble, a Belgium chamber Music ensemble. Produced by Eka3 (www.eka3productions.com). Commissioned by the non-profit organization Quart de Ton a.s.b.l. Also performed in Austria by Kremerata Baltica, and in Switzerland by TaG ensemble.
  • Arabian Fantasy In Blue, Piece for flute, cello and piano. Commissioned by Meinenger Trio and the German radio Bayerischer Rundfunk.[19]

Other recordings and performances

Sleep, Text by James Joyce for choir, organ and timpani. Recorded live, this composition has been commissioned by the American University of Beirut Choral Society, for the Living Lebanese composers concert, which took place in 2004, Assembly Hall, American University of Beirut.[20]
Soliloquy, Symphonic composition in three movements, written for the Lebanese National Symphony Orchestra and performed May 2005, at Saint Joseph Church, Beirut. Conductor: Harout Fazlian.
Aaah!..., Text excerpts from Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts. This composition is dedicated to John Cage and has been recorded live, 2006, in Open form composition concert at P. Abou Khater theatre, Saint Joseph University, Beirut. Sponsored by the Lebanese National Conservatory and the Fulbright Program, with Katharine Cartwright (vocals). Conductor: Harout Fazlian.
Alone Together 2, For Qanun, Cello and Violin. This piece has been commissioned by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and recorded in Nuremberg, April 2011.
Ala Dal'ona, A Middle Eastern folk song (four hands piano), performed in 2011 by Hasmig Melkonian Aibel and Howard Aibel at Convent of the Sacred Heart (Connecticut), Greenwich, USA.
Just Hold Me Tight, Solo violin by George Yammine.[21] A piece mixing oriental scales and contemporary atonal music. Recorded December 2012, Beirut, Lebanon.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Who is She in Lebanon?".
  2. ↑ "Brunel Institute for Contemporary Middle Eastern Music".
  3. ↑ Zeina Saleh Kayali, Vincent Rouquès, Compositeurs Libanais XXe et XXIe siècle, Séguier, Paris, 2011.
  4. ↑ Milkwood Artist Residency, in collaboration with Freemuse International, Freedimensional, and Milkwood residencies.
  5. ↑ Villa Sträuli, Winterthur, Switzerland.
  6. 1 2 The multimedia performance Palais de femmes is a mixture of soundtrack, pre-recorded film, live music and dance. Its title is inspired by the Salvation Army-funded institution Palais de la femme, which gives shelter to women in need. Performances took place at Montaigne theatre, French Cultural Center of the French Embassy in Beirut, October 2 & 3, 2014. See the article Women who shelter in their art, published in the print edition of The Daily Star and its website (October 02, 2014, p. 16) .
  7. ↑ Burkhalter, Thomas (2013). Local music scenes and globalization; Transnational Platforms in Beirut. First published 2013 by Routledge, 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN: Routledge studies in ethnomusicology. Taylor & Francis. p. 5. A true composition is the fruit of a unique idea, developed into a concept, based in what the composer has heard, aiming at expressing an individual point of the view, a certain personality. Therefore it is neither "western" nor "oriental", taking into account the fact that we have all heard numerous styles of music […]
  8. ↑ "Ensemble Fragments - Ensemble de musique de chambre à géométrie variable". Ensemble Fragments. July 2008.
  9. ↑ Ich mache keine Konzessionen. Ich mache Musik. Zeitgenössische Musik im Libanon: Über die erste Oper in arabischer Sprache von Joëlle Khoury. Neue Muzikzeitung, Ausgabe: 10/2008 - 57. Jahrgang .
  10. ↑ Arab-Baltic Spring, Esterházy Castle, Austria. Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC), Gidon Kremer's Kremerata Baltica and the Esterházy Private Foundation, brought contemporary classical music from the Arab-Baltic region; performed at the Haydn Hall of Esterházy Castle.
  11. ↑ Arab-Baltic Spring, Germany concert, May 2014
  12. ↑ Andris Veismanis, conductor
  13. ↑ Fondazione Adkins Chiti: Donne in Musica (Women in Music) is an organization created by musicologist and opera singer Patricia Adkins Chiti. Its mission is to promote and support woman composers and songwriters of all nationalities.
  14. ↑ Multimedia performance based on L. S. Senghor poetry, commissioned and sponsored by Lebanese Ministry of Culture and French Cultural Center, Beirut. Dec. 28, 2006.
  15. ↑ Multimedia performance for voices, electronics, piano, saxophone and cello, based on texts by Lebanese poets: Jad Hatem, Rita Baddoura, Lougal Jazzar, Antoine Boulad, Etel Adnan, Gabriel Naffah, Georges Schehadé and commissioned by the French Cultural Center Beirut, June 2007.
  16. ↑ Electroacoustic music to accompany poetry recital, commemorizing the various Lebanese wars. Performed on March 21, 2008, in the occasion of Printemps des Poètes and commissioned by Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the Lebanese Ministry of Culture (Monot theatre, Beirut)
  17. ↑ Khoury, Joelle (Summer–Fall 2008). "Times Goes One Way - Against the Classification of Arts". Al Raida, the Pioneer - Women in the Performing Arts. Issues 122-123: 97–100.
  18. ↑ Khoury J., Die Geschichte - ein göttliches Gedicht; Theologie in Noten; Werkersclieβungen und Reflexionen. Wolfgang W. Müller (Hg.), 2015, Grünewald.
  19. ↑ Meinenger trio, "Mating calls Lockrufe"; Recorded October 2013. Günter Hänssler, NAXOS.
  20. ↑ Khoury, Joelle (2004). "Modern Atonalities Ring Out at the Spring Concert". American University of Beirut - News.
  21. ↑ G. Yammine is a violinist in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, founded in 1999 by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Saïd. He published in 2016 as a photographer, a book related to his experience with the orchestra. Edited by D. Barenboim.
    G. Yammine (2016) Funkelnde Hoffnung ; Das West-Eastern Divan Orchestra und die Kraft der Musik, Herausgegeben von Daniel Barenboim. Ed. Corso[1].
    [1] Yammine G. (2016), A spark of hope; the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the power of music. Edited by Daniel Barenboim, Ed. Corso.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.