WELCOME To TONIGHT's PROGRAM
FREE PALESTINE
String Quartets by John King
FREE PALESTINE is an ongoing set of pieces employing Arabic pitch and rhythmic modes which explore sonic, structural and temporal freedoms. The pieces began being titled with the predominant maqam used. Then their titles changed to become the original historic names of Palestinian villages from pre-1948 Palestine, before the Nakba. These ethnically cleansed villages are significant historically as well as for the current conditions of the ongoing Occupation and Siege. These names for me focus the resistance to the policies of Apartheid, the illegality of the Occupation, and the crimes perpetrated on the people who continue to resist in their steadfast fight for equal rights, equal justice, equal freedoms, and the right of return to their homeland. These villages, from the river to the sea, and their former and future inhabitants must always be acknowledged and kept in our memories.
At the AANM, King’s compositions will be performed by The Entropy String Quartet featuring
Maritza Figueroa-Garibay, Mike Khoury, Indira Edwards and Jack O’Brien.
Arab American National Museum
Friday, February 16, 2024 at 8pm
qastina - july 9, 1948-present
deir jarir - june 1967-present
akka - may 17, 1948-present
al-tantura - may 22-23, 1948-present
al-dawayima - oct 29, 1948-present
ayn ghazal - july 25-28, 1948-present
umm ash shauf - may 12-14, 1948-present
sultani yakah - ijlil al-qibliyya - march 12-20, 1948-present
al-khisas - dec 18-19, 1947-preset
huzam - khan yunis - nov 3, 1956-present
At the AANM, King’s compositions will be performed by The Entropy String Quartet featuring
Maritza Figueroa-Garibay, Mike Khoury, Indira Edwards and Jack O’Brien.
Arab American National Museum
Friday, February 16, 2024 at 8pm
qastina - july 9, 1948-present
deir jarir - june 1967-present
akka - may 17, 1948-present
al-tantura - may 22-23, 1948-present
al-dawayima - oct 29, 1948-present
ayn ghazal - july 25-28, 1948-present
umm ash shauf - may 12-14, 1948-present
sultani yakah - ijlil al-qibliyya - march 12-20, 1948-present
al-khisas - dec 18-19, 1947-preset
huzam - khan yunis - nov 3, 1956-present
From “A World of Shared Ecstasy” by Adam Shatz, The Paris Review, 2017
“Edward Said, I think, would have appreciated John King’s extraordinary suite for string quartet, Free Palestine, recently released on New World Records, and not only because King has dedicated it to the same cause that Said served as an unofficial spokesman. Seldom have the traditions of Western and Arabic music been fused with such intelligence, integrity, and feeling.”
About the Artists:
John King is a freelance composer, guitarist and violinist living in New York City. He began working on these “Free Palestine” string quartets in 2013. They now number 120 separate works, each one dedicated to one of the 400+ Palestinian villages ethnically cleansed in 1948. The music sounds within the intersection of Arabic and western music traditions, and at the same time brings a futuristic de-colonizing approach as to the methods of their possible interpretations.
The Entropy String Quartet, featuring Maritza Figueroa-Garibay, Mike Khoury, Indira Edwards and Jack O’Brien, was formed in 2023 to explore new and adventurous music by challenging composers. Based in Redford, Mich., the members of The Entropy String Quartet have a rich background in improvisation as well as performing through composed pieces. Figueroa-Garibay divides her time between composing, performing and conducting the Detroit Community Orchestra, Khoury performs in duet with improviser Ben Hall and plays in the Redford Civic Symphony Orchestra, Edwards divides her time between freelancing and teaching at Wayne County Community College District, and O’Brien performs with the The Northwoods Improvisers when he is not composing new works.
This evening is a co-presentation between the Arab American National Museum and Arab.AMP,
curated by Arab.AMP Director Leyya Mona Tawil.
“Edward Said, I think, would have appreciated John King’s extraordinary suite for string quartet, Free Palestine, recently released on New World Records, and not only because King has dedicated it to the same cause that Said served as an unofficial spokesman. Seldom have the traditions of Western and Arabic music been fused with such intelligence, integrity, and feeling.”
About the Artists:
John King is a freelance composer, guitarist and violinist living in New York City. He began working on these “Free Palestine” string quartets in 2013. They now number 120 separate works, each one dedicated to one of the 400+ Palestinian villages ethnically cleansed in 1948. The music sounds within the intersection of Arabic and western music traditions, and at the same time brings a futuristic de-colonizing approach as to the methods of their possible interpretations.
The Entropy String Quartet, featuring Maritza Figueroa-Garibay, Mike Khoury, Indira Edwards and Jack O’Brien, was formed in 2023 to explore new and adventurous music by challenging composers. Based in Redford, Mich., the members of The Entropy String Quartet have a rich background in improvisation as well as performing through composed pieces. Figueroa-Garibay divides her time between composing, performing and conducting the Detroit Community Orchestra, Khoury performs in duet with improviser Ben Hall and plays in the Redford Civic Symphony Orchestra, Edwards divides her time between freelancing and teaching at Wayne County Community College District, and O’Brien performs with the The Northwoods Improvisers when he is not composing new works.
This evening is a co-presentation between the Arab American National Museum and Arab.AMP,
curated by Arab.AMP Director Leyya Mona Tawil.
Made possible in part by these supporters of the AANM:
Made possible in part by these supporters of DANCE ELIXIR / Arab.AMP:
