Boston Musica Viva & Soloists of the Silk Road Ensemble to Premiere Latest Work by Holy Cross Prof. Shirish Korde

The Arts Transcending Borders (ATB) program at the College of the Holy Cross is pleased to announce Boston Musica Viva (BMV) & Soloists of the Silk Road Ensemble will be performing at the College of the Holy Cross on Monday, April 13 at 8 p.m. in Brooks Concert Hall. Their performance will feature the world premiere of “Kala Chakra” a new work composed by Shirish Korde, professor of music at the College. This event is free and open to the public.

“Kala Chakra,” Sanskrit for “time-cycle,” has been written especially for the young virtuosic soprano Gitanjali Mathur, and artists with the Silk Road Ensemble, which include Wu Tong, singer and master sheng player from China, and Sandeep Das, tabla master from India. They will be accompanied by BMV under the direction of conductor Richard Pittman.

Korde’s work is based on folk music from diverse cultures including Armenia, China, India, the Czech Republic, Romania, and the U.S. In this composition, texts and musical structures are interwoven to create a new work that not only explores common features among world folk traditions that are the focus of “Kala Chakra,” but also juxtaposes conflicting notions of time, color, melody, and harmony into a new sonic world, reflective of the inter-connected world we live in today.

“My recent works have focused on music that is influenced by Asian musical and theatrical genres, but especially the Raga system of India, the Balinese Gamelan, and Japanese music—all filtered through the prism of contemporary music,” says Korde. He further explains, “In other words, I am interested in a synthesis of world music and contemporary music so that the sonic experience resonates with the past and also the present.”

Arts Transcending Borders is a new initiative at the College designed to infuse the fine and performing arts into students’ academic lives and create new opportunities throughout the curriculum and the community by transcending cultural, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries.  The initiative is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Arts Transcending Borders events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.