In response to the stereotyping of Muslims in today’s politics, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol composed music to bring together cultural expressions of Islam and Europe, highlight the diversity of Boston’s Muslim community, and further conversation among Muslim and non-Muslim Bostonians. The program’s centerpiece is DEVRAN, Sanlıkol’s unique intercultural choral work combining Muslim texts, Renaissance choral style, and Middle Eastern elements into an artistic whole. DEVRAN was premiered by the NEC Chamber Singers, led by Erica Washburn, where DÜNYA ensemble, performed traditional Turkish Sufi music and Ottoman Jewish music led by the composer.
The first performance took place following a symposium on Music and Morality at New England Conservatory on 11/9/2017 at Jordan Hall and the second performance took place on 11/12/2017 at First Church in Roxbury with a panel discussion prior to the concert moderated by WBUR’s Louise Kennedy (details below). The panel included Ali Asani, Professor of Islamic Religion and Cultures at Harvard; Robert Labaree, ethnomusicologist at NEC; and Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol.
Location, Date/Time, Price:
November 9, Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA, PRE-CONCERT TALK at 7:00pm, CONCERT at 7:30pm. FREE
November 12, First Church of Roxbury, 10 Putnam St., Boston, MA, PANEL at 2:00pm, CONCERT at 3:00pm. FREE
This project’s community partners were New England Turkish Student Association (NETSA) and The Inayati Order of Greater Boston