Adam Karelin
Our Classical Californian this week is Adam Karelin, the Executive and Artistic Director of the Riverside Arts Academy. He’s also a composer and conductor – he’ll introduce works by some of his favorite composers, including Valentyn Silvestrov and Dmitri Shostakovich, and a movement from his oratorio, Forget Your Past. There’s also a choral setting of “Agnus Dei” by Ernesto Herrera and some musical risk-taking from violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and friends.
He begins with a piece by a faculty member of the Riverside Arts Academy, Ernesto Herrera, and his setting of the "Agnus Dei" text.
Ernesto Herrera: Agnus Dei
Then it's Valentyn Silvestrov's "Prayer for Ukraine" from his Maidan 2014 cycle.
Valentyn Silvestrov: Prayer for Ukraine
The powerful choral Symphony No. 13 by Dmitri Shostakovich includes a setting in the first movement of the poem "Babi Yar" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, mvt 1 ("Babi Yar")
Both Silvestrov and Shostakovich inspired him when Adam Karelin wrote his oratorio called Forget Your Past. Here's a movement called "Prayer" from that work.
Adam Karelin: "Prayer" from Forget Your Past
Then there are two selections featuring the iconoclastic violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja - first playing the third movement of Bela Bartok's Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano.
Bartok: Contrasts (mvt. 3: Sebeș)
And finally, the chaotic but joyous celebration of Serban Nichifor's "Klezmer Dance".
Serban Nichifor: Klezmer Dance
