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Interfaith Works presents: The
2009 a
celebration of the sacred Saturday March 7, 2009 at the Minnaert Center for the Arts |
Artists
of the 2008 World Sacred Music Festival
(in order of first appearance at festival)
Che oke' ten (Paul Wagner) of the Saanich (Coast Salish) Tribe, shares the beautiful songs and stories of his ancestors' ancient Sissiwiss (Sacred Breath/Sacred Life) tradition, interspersed with Spirit-received songs on the Native American flute.
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Mukana Marimba is a seven-piece marimba (wood xylophone) ensemble, playing traditional songs of Zimbabwe and original arrangements. This upbeat and joyful music comes from numerous traditions in Southern Africa. The Shona people are the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe, and much of the music is arranged from songs played on the mbira (thumb piano). The mbira is central in Shona ceremonies and daily life. We also play music from the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Mozambique.
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Urvasi
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Urvasi performs Odissi Classical Dance from India. The particular tradition of Odissi that we do was danced by maharis or devadasis (temple dancers) in the Temple of Lord Jagannatha in Puri, Orissa, as a temple service. The devadasis were married to the deity. Banned by law, the dance was stopped in the mid-20th century. Today it can be seen only on stage.
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Naby Camara is a master griot musician from the West African country of Guinea. He leads his world music group Lagni Sussu with originally composed and arranged dynamic rhythms and songs coming from an over 1,000 year musical balafon tradition. The balafon is one of the oldest instrument traditions of griot musicians from Naby's part of Guinea. Performances by this group involve a traditional and modernistic style with balafon, djembe and dundun drums and vocals sung in Sussu and Malinke languages. Songs and music are played by griots who hold a very important social, political and historical positions in West African cultures like the Sussu of Guinea, to acknowledge the long and present history of people and their kingdoms and lands, honor ancestors, kings and leaders, celebrate events, and honor people in weddings, graduations, baby naming ceremonies and celebrations. Musicians like Naby Camara are highly respected for their knowledge, artistic gifts and place as a griot born into this vocation, and are held sacred to the cultural, historical, artistic and social fabric of these Sussu and Mande societies of West Africa. |
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Raga Dharma play Indian classical music. This has been performed for centuries for meditation, healing, and yoga, and his its roots in the ancient texts of India. The group consists of Stephanie Donchey on sitar, Celia Chantal on flute, Erik Siraah Correia on bass, and Alexi duCre on tabla.
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The Olympia Jazz Senators Big Band includes the finest jazz musicians in the South Puget Sound area. Members hail from Florida to Alaska, and graduated from top music schools like Eastman on the east coast, to Pacific Lutheran on this coast, and seemingly everywhere in between. . Most Senators front professional bands of their own, play in other working bands, and teach numerous private students. The Jazz Senators donate their Monday “night off” to playing hot big-band jazz in Olympia. Seven Senators are current or former public school music teachers, who lead their students through professional example. For the Festival, the Jazz Senators will play selections from Duke Ellington's sacred concerts.
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Shabava plays a fusion of classical Persian music with Indian, Turkish, and North African music. Bobak Salehi (Kamancheh, Setar, Violin): Traditional Persian music, studied with his father, comes from a long tradition of musicians in family, as a teenager studied Rumi’s poetry with parents, learned spiritual expression through music and poetry. Nat Hulskamp (Oud, Flamenco Guitar): Traditional North African & Flamenco music, studied with Maestro Tarik Banzi, and other masters, seeks emotional connection in music, inspired by Indonesian poets, Turkish singers and musicians, Spanish gypsy guitarists and singers. Matt Hannafin (percussion) is a New York-born, Portland-based percussionist active in both Iranian classical and traditional music and contemporary free improvisation. He studied Iranian tombak (classical goblet drum) with master Kavous Shirzadian, Arabic and Indian percussion with Jamey Haddad and Glen Velez, African and Afro-Caribbean percussion with John Amira and Magette Fall, and voice with composer La Monte Young and legendary Indian singer Pandit Pran Nath. A member of several improvising duos and ensembles, he's also performed with artists as diverse as Turkish multi-instrumentalist Omar Faruk Tekbilek, drone/noise guitarist Donald Miller, shakuhachi player Jeffrey Lependorf, Ukrainian bandura maestro Julian Kytasty, and minimalist turntablist Maria Chavez. He has appeared at venues and festivals around the USA, from the United Nations General Assembly Hall, the New England Conservatory, and the Miami Iranian Cultural Festival to CBGB's. |
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Sacred Harp (shape-note) singing is a traditional American form of a capella hymn singing. It was extremely popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Shape-note singing survived as a continuous practice only in parts of the American South, from whence it has spread again in recent years. Sacred Harp practice explicitly discourages religious discussion among the singers, despite the strong Protestant themes of the songs' texts. Nevertheless, most contemporary Sacred Harp singers would describe these participatory music events as creating a strong sense of communion and transcendence.
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LaVon Hardison sings interfaith songs of praise that are inspired by the black Baptist tradition. Having grown up in the Baptist church, music and worshipping God have always gone together for LaVon. Singing about her spiritual experiences is a natural expression. She has had many opportunities to walk in different faith circles, providing a new language and new eyes to see God in an expanded way. Accompanying LaVon is pianist David Rhys Johnson. |
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Modibo Traore introduces his audience to the melody and rhythm of the bougarabou drum, the voice of the sacred forests of Casamance. The Jola people of Casamance (southern Senegal and Gambia) celebrate male initiation rites every 20 years, a ritual that takes place in the forest and lasts from two weeks to a full month. Young males are led into the forest and taught the sacred ways and spirits by their elders. A wulakonoduto tree is split, the trunk carved into four large drums headed with pegs and skins from a sacrificial cow. In order to call up the friendly spirits and ward off the evil spirits, the bougarabou master will play for several days and nights at a time, drinking a potion of roots and herbs to sustain the intensity. Each drum has a different tone, giving the music melody as well as rhythm. Allow yourself to be transported into the sacred forest as Modibo eases seamlessly from one melody to the next and surprises you with subtle variations in rhythms and textures, engaging your spirit in a lively call-response pursuit.
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Eyal Rivlin and Danya Uriel are dedicated to revitalizing Hebrew chanting as a form of meditation and ecstatic prayer on the path of the heart. They create and share their music in the service of inspiration, community building, and devotion. Drawing on the power of the repetition of ancient sacred phrases, they use Hebrew chants to create inner and outer peace. Also known as the duo Temple, they released the CD Coming Home in July 2007. |
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We all have the understanding that the universal truths are in all traditions, therefore we see that a melding of any combination is just as valid as any single one. Each of the four of us draws from our personal choice and experience of religious tradition, including (but not limited to) Wicca, Osatru, Thelema, and Catholicism. We've discovered these traditions here in the Pacific Northwest, as well as through personal journeys and cultural upbringings. When doing ritual, we find it important to pick the symbols we connect with so as to incorporate them into whatever ritual/tradition we may find ourselves involved in. In the Pagan community, rituals of intention, influenced by traditions all over the world, are being written by people who are spiritually creative. Over a length of time, this creates religious tradition. Thus, we manifest our "tradition" by the very essence of our sacred music and intention.
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Kol N'Shama, of "Voices of the Soul," is the choir of Temple Beth Hatfiloh, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Olympia, Washington. The choir originally formed to sing once a year at High Holy Day services, but the enthusiasm for the choir expanded to include singing once a month at Shabbat services, and at interfaith activities. Song and music are integral parts of Jewish worship, and the choir augments this experience and encourages congregational participation. The choir sings traditional Jewish arrangement as well as pieces composed by contemporary Jewish artists in Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, Aramaic, and English.
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Adzido performs West African traditional dance and drumming in a collective community celebration and devotional experience. Led by Scott and Tiffany Nicolow, the group's pieces are chiefly from Ghana, Togo, and Benin, as taught in the tradition of their teacher CK Ganyo. Scott and Tiffany teach regularly at Fusion Studio in Olympia.
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Play the Didgeridoo! This workshop and performance promotes awareness, respect, and celebration of creativity via the ancient sound instrument -- the didgeridoo. From beginners to advanced practitioners, this workshop will explore the techniques of playing. Examine and experience the artistry of sound. Doug and Ted will also perform various compositions. All ages are welcome at the workshop, and practice "Didgeri-tubes" will be available.
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Storyteller Gordon Munro weaves together the spoken word with the rhythm of the drum, taking people to a place where they can touch the hopes, dreams, and wisdom of the ancestors. Stories have been used through the ages as a way to transmit knowledge that can connect us to ourselves, our community, and to the sacred. the stories I tell come from many wisdom traditions, including Native American, European, Middle Eastern, African, and Asian.
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The music of our Zikr presentation was created by Jelaleddin Loras, head of the Mevlevi Order of America. The Zikr is a chanting and movement practice which is supported by music rooted in ancient sufi practices of Turkey. Zikr is the Sufi practice of remembrance, refreshing our connection with the divine spark of life which lives in all of us. The dance of the Whirling Dervishes is a sacred Sufi prayer in movement. We whirl around our hearts, remembering our connections with the Divine and with all those around us. The Zikr practice we present is “Esta’furullah” asking for the forgiveness of God. We begin with a sitting practice, clearing the rust from our hearts, to provide a clear image of the world, and progress to standing part, taking the symbolic steps to bring the practice into the physical world. This is a participatory practice, the audience is invited to participate and join us in these simple movements.
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