Composer/Violinist Layale Chaker Spring Highlights – WP of Ruinous Gods at Spoleto, Two New Albums on In a Circle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Chaker PR Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists
katy@primoartists.com | 212.837.8466

In a Circle PR Contact: Johnny Gandelsman
johnnygandelsman@gmail.com 

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Composer/Violinist Layale Chaker Spring Highlights

European Tour to Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and London with 
Chaker’s Chamber Jazz Quintet, Sarafand, from April 15-18, 2024

World Premiere Performances of Debut Opera, Ruinous Gods, Commissioned 
by Spoleto Festival USA, Wuppertal Opera & Nederlandse Reisopera

Layale Chaker and Sarafand Residency at Spoleto Festival USA

Two New Albums Featuring ETHEL and Sarafand Drop May 17, 2024 
on In A Circle Records, Exploring Intersection Between Classical Music, 
Jazz, Arabic Music, and Improvisation

Vigil feat. ETHEL | Radio Afloat feat. Sarafand

“beguiling” with “bright and beautiful strands… gorgeous, wine-dark swirls” – NPR

“Her eloquent and poignant compositions are simultaneously earthy and spiritual, 
provocative and passionate.” – All About Jazz 

www.layalechaker.com
 

New York, NY (April 3, 2024) –  “Rising star” (BBC Music Magazine) composer and violinist Layale Chaker is poised for a busy and exciting year, marked by the world premiere of her full length chamber opera, Ruinous Gods, at the Spoleto Festival USA, and the release of two simultaneous albums on In a Circle Records, one featuring ETHEL and the other Chaker’s chamber jazz ensemble Sarafand, which tours her Radio Afloat to Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and London. Born in Paris but raised in Lebanon from the age of 6, Chaker was raised speaking multiple languages, both linguistically and musically. Now based in Brooklyn, her complex sound universe lies at the intersection of classical contemporary music, jazz, Arabic music, and improvisation. 

The 2024 Spoleto Festival USA also presents Sarafand in residence on Monday, May 27, 2024 and Tuesday, May 28, 2024, performing two sets each night, the first at 5:00pm features works from the album Inner Rhyme, and a 7:00pm set of Radio Afloat.

Chaker celebrates the release of two albums in tandem  – Vigil and Radio Afloat – both out May 17, 2024 on In A Circle Records. The recordings reflect on the intertwined destinies of people and the natural world, which manifest even louder in times of collective pain; a commentary on the ebb and flow of politics of power and conflict that further the vulnerability of the land and those who tend to it. 

The contemporary classical album Vigil documents the fruitful collaboration between the new-music string quartet ETHEL. Each member of ETHEL contributes a piece and Chaker herself contributes two works, including the remarkable composition that gives this album its name. Liner notes are provided by WNYC’s John Schaefer. 

Composed by Chaker in 2023 during Sarafand’s year-long residency as part of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, the second album, Radio Afloat, reflects the artist’s expansive musical realm, spanning genres from Arabic Maqam to jazz, free improvisation and contemporary classical. Radio Afloat represents a vision of a radio lost at sea, reflecting the intertwined destinies of people and the natural world, which manifest even louder in times of collective pain; a commentary on the ebb and flow of politics of power, conflict and dominance that exacerbate the vulnerability of the land and those who tend to it. Conceived as a suite of intersecting movements, Radio Afloat echoes “The Trace of Blue Passion,” a poem by Lebanese author Ounsi el-Hage and serves as the follow-up to the ensemble’s chart-topping debut album Inner Rhyme.

On Monday, April 15, 2024 at 8:30pm at Splendor Amsterdam presents Layale Chaker Trio: Radio Afloat featuring mezzo-soprano and Splendor musician Nora Fischer, and on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 8:30pm, Chaker shares the stage with Nora Fischer and Palestinian musician Nizar Rohana for a program in Life In Concert series, where musicians share their personal stories through both music and spoken narratives.

On Wednesday April 17, 2024, 7:00pm at Institut Francais d'Edinbourgh in Scotland and again on Thursday April 18, 2024 at 7:00pm at the Institut Francais Royaume-Uni in London, Sarafand presents extracts from Two Coasts: Past and Current Streams, a project reimagining works by Baroque French and English composers ranging from Rameau to John Dowland as intersecting streams that explore the theme of water. The project was conceived with support from the Diaphonique fund for Contemporary music, run by the Institut français. Two Coasts will be presented as a chamber jazz quintet version, followed by a performance of Radio Afloat.

From Friday, May 24, 2024 to Saturday, June 1, 2024, Spoleto presents the world premiere of Ruinous Gods at the College of Charleston Sottile Theatre. Loosely based on the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, Ruinous Gods is a new full-length chamber opera by Layale Chaker and Lisa Schlesinger that explores the psychological toll experienced by displaced refugee children. Conducted by Kamna Gupta, this vital world premiere opera follows a desperate mother’s attempts to revive her 12-year- old daughter who has fallen into a non-responsive sleep triggered by trauma. The child’s journey through an underworld-inspired dreamscape forms the backdrop for a groundbreaking score that weaves Arabic maqam and Western classical music traditions with diverse Middle Eastern influences, jazz, and improvisation. At turns painful, humorous, and hopeful, Ruinous Gods urges crucial conversations about how governments and societies treat migrant families. The opera will also appear in spring 2025 at Wuppertal Opera in Germany and in 2026 at Nederlandse Reisopera on tour across the Netherlands.

Grounded in testimonies from survivors and families of those afflicted by uppgivenhetssyndrom, or resignation syndrome, the evocative opera is a psychological response to the state of displacement. Chaker shares, “In the past four years, this work has seen many rewrites as we were continuously trying to respond to the drastic changes from which the world was reeling. Yet the core of this work remained constant: that our common human condition will always lie in the palms of our children’s hands. This story invites reflection on the current political, social and environmental practices, and their consequences on the young.”

Musically, the work is rooted in the traditions of Arabic Maqam and Western classical music. Created for six soloists, a chorus, and a chamber ensemble of strings, oboe/English horn, bassoon, flute, clarinet, harp, percussion, and piano, the score includes the use of a microtonal keyboard. Chaker said, “The music of Ruinous Gods also crosses different fields, including spoken word, pushing boundaries of forms and structures. Likewise, this musical experimentation aims to challenge canonical rules, rethinking microtonality, the relationships between untampered modality and tempered harmony, and cyclical and linear rhythms. Its musical branches reach a multitude of musical landscapes and languages spanning contemporary Classical music as much as influences from Arabic, Ottoman, Persian, Hindustani music, Jazz, free improvisation, and alludes in form and structure to the Chorus in ancient Greek tragedy. Some sung texts also stem from Babylonian and Assyrian divinations and incantations.”

The 2024 Spoleto Festival USA also presents Sarafand in residence on Monday, May 27, 2024 and Tuesday, May 28, 2024, performing two sets each night, the first at 5:00pm features works from the album Inner Rhyme, and a 7:00pm set of Radio Afloat.

Layale Chaker Spring 2024 Concert Highlights

Nora Fischer Presents Layale Chaker Trio: Radio Afloat
Monday, April 15, 2024 at 8:30pm
Splendor Amsterdam | The Netherlands
Tickets:  £19.50
Link: https://splendoramsterdam.com/en/agenda/111392593/layale-chaker-trio-radio-afloat

Layale Chaker, violin
Phillip Golub, piano
John Hadfield, drums

Nora Fischer Presents Life in Concert
Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 8:30pm
Splendor Amsterdam | The Netherlands
Tickets: £18
Link: https://splendoramsterdam.com/en/agenda/111397945/life-in-concert 

Layale Chaker, violin
Nizar Rohana, ud
Nora Fischer, vocals
Phillip Golub, piano
John Hadfield, drums

Concert: Two Coasts by Layale Chaker
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 7:00pm
Institut Francais d'Edinbourgh | Edinburgh, Scotland
Tickets: £15
Link: https://www.ifecosse.org.uk/events-agenda/concert-two-coasts-by-layale-chaker/#/ 

Program:
Layale Chaker – Two Coasts
Layale Chaker – Radio Afloat

Layale Chaker, violin
Phillip Golub, piano
John Hadfield, drums

Diaphonique Concert: Two Coasts by Layale Chaker
Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 8:00pm
Institut Francais Royaume-Uni | London, UK
Tickets: £15
Link: www.institut-francais.org.uk/events-agenda/diaphonique-concert-two-coasts-by-layale-chaker/#/ 

Program:
Layale Chaker – Two Coasts
Layale Chaker – Radio Afloat

Layale Chaker, violin
Philip Golub, piano
John Hadfield, percussions
Rihab Azar, oud

Spoleto Festival USA Presents the World Premiere of Ruinous Gods
Friday, May 24, 2024 at 7:00pm
Monday, May 27, 2024 at 2:00pm
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at 7:00pm
Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 2:00pm
College of Charleston Sottile Theatre | Charleston, SC
Tickets: $54–$134
Link: https://spoletousa.org/events/ruinous-gods/ 

Layale Chaker – Ruinous Gods

Music by Layale Chaker
Libretto by Lisa Schlesinger
Direction and Dramaturgy by Omar Abi Azar and Maya Zbib
Conducted by Kamna Gupta
Scene Design by Joelle Aoun
Costume Design by Sarah Leterrier
Lighting Design by James Ingalls
Co-produced and co-commissioned by Spoleto Festival USA, Opera Wuppertal (Germany), and Nederlandse Reisopera (The Netherlands)

Spoleto Festival USA Presents Sarafand Ensemble in Inner Rhyme and Radio Afloat
Monday, May 27, 2024 and Tuesday, May 28, 2024
5:00pm – Program 1: Inner Rhyme
7:00pm – Program 2: Radio Afloat
Emmett Robinson Theatre| Charleston, SC
Tickets: $38
Link: https://spoletousa.org/events/sarafand/

Vigil and Radio Afloat Album Information

Vigil Tracklist
     1. Novembers (Ralph Farris) [5:50]
     2. Vigil I - Of Thirst (Layale Chaker) [4:08]
     3. Vigil II - Virgil (Layale Chaker) [3:50]
     4. Vigil III - Of Fire (Layale Chaker) [2:47]
     5. Vigil IV - Later that night, I held an atlas in my lap (Layale Chaker) [7:20]
     6. Vigil V - Interlude and Epilogue (Layale Chaker) [5:46]
     7. Teen Mania (Kip Jones) [4:49]
     8. Salla Fina Llahdu (Sayyid Darwish, arrangement Layale Chaker) [4:38]
     9. The Demon Within (Dorothy Lawson) [7:45]
    10. Sketka (Corin Lee) [3:22]

Total Time: 50:18

Layale Chaker, violin
Ralph Farris, viola
Kip Jones, violin
Dorothy Lawson, cello
Corin Lee, violin

Album Credits
Recorded December 5-8, 2022 at Kaleidoscope Sound, Union City, NJ
Producer: Jesse Lewis, Kip Jones
Recording Engineer: Jeremy Delaney
Editing Engineer: Kip Jones, Corin Lee
Mix Engineer: Christopher Moretti
Mastering Engineer: Jesse Lewis, Shauna Barravecchio
Artwork by Kevork Mourad
Design by Kevork Mourad and Layale Chaker

Radio Afloat Tracklist

Layale Chaker & Sarafand – Radio Afloat (2024)
     1. Intro - “and and from the dove i raised myself” [3:09]
     2. Anatomie of Titus - I. Fall of Rome [3:59]
     3. Anatomie of Titus - II. Quasi Samai (Feat John Hadfield) [7:14]
     4. Khab Nisan (Feat Phillip Golub) [7:56]
     5. Interlude (Feat Jake Charkey) [2:30]
     6. Ocean to Ocean [2:44]
     7. Sketch - Unraveled (Feat Sam Minaie) [5:20]
     8. Southern Sky [5:49]
     9. Nocturnal: Backburn [5:53]
     
Total Time: 45:00

Layale Chaker, violin, voice, composition
Jake Charkey, cello
Phillip Golub, piano & microtonal keyboard
Sam Minaie, bass
John Hadfield, drums

Album Credits
Recorded September 5-7, 2023 at The Bunker Studio, Brooklyn, New York
Recorded by Alex Conroy
Produced by Sam Minaie, Layale Chaker & Phillip Golub
Mixed and mastered by Sam Minaie
Artwork by Kevork Mourad
Design by Layale Chaker

About Layale Chaker
To set the stage for Chaker’s 2023-2024 season, her new work Dawning made its world premiere at Omaha’s Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival, which co-commissioned the piece alongside the New York Philharmonic. The work was subsequently performed by the New York Philharmonic and by Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra. Featuring the composer as violin soloist alongside clarinetist and husband Kinan Azmeh, this double concerto for clarinet, violin and orchestra is a musical love letter to the innocent children who have joined earthside amid trying times, drawing inspiration from the many lullabies the couple has been singing to their new son. Chaker describes her central image as “resilient seedlings sprouting from the cracks of leaden landscapes, symbolizing the enduring spirit of life and the promise of a new dawn. It's a testament to the human capacity to create and nurture life, even in the face of adversities, and a poignant reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is room for joy, love, and the promise of a brighter future.”

Among her recent engagements, Chaker premiered a new work for violin and choir at Morgenland Festival Osnabrueck in Germany with the choral ensemble Capella Amsterdam. Her many collaborations include projects with Ziad Rahbani, Johnny Gandelsman, Holland Baroque, Oxford Orchestra, New World Symphony, London Jazz Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Junger Künstler Festival Bayreuth, Lucerne Festival, Beethoven Festival Bonn, and Avignon Festival, with featured performances at the Berlin Philharmonic, Abbaye de Royaumont, Hancher, The Stone, National Sawdust, Royal Albert Hall, and Wigmore Hall. She has also worked with Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. This experience inspired a composition in honor of Edward Saïd, the eminent academic, critic and activist who cofounded the orchestra. Commissioned and premiered by the Détours de Babel Festival in 2022, Chaker’s work In the Presence of Absence - In Memoriam Edward Saïd captures Saïd’s lifelong engagement with music and culture.

With Sarafand, her key touring project, Chaker has performed throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, appearing at the London Jazz Festival, Brighton Festival, New Sounds WNYC, and many others. Among many high-profile past bookings, Sarafand was featured at the 2022 Classical:NEXT Showcase in Germany, with concerts in France and the Netherlands.

Chaker’s debut album Inner Rhyme – recorded with Sarafand and released on In a Circle Records (2019) – was named "Top of The World" by Songlines, ranked #2 on NPR’s 10 Best Releases, lived at #1 for several weeks on Amazon Music, and received rave reviews by The New York Times, BBC Music Magazine, Strings Magazine, Jazz World, and many others. Composed between Beirut, Paris and London from 2016-2018 and recorded in New York over the summer of 2018, the album unveils musical threads that are mapped through the rhythmical cycles of the twelve classical Arabic poetic meters, the fluidity of oral and free forms, the abstraction of language into the physical contour of verses and the percussive potential of words.

A 2020-2022 Jerome Hill Fellow, Chaker is also recipient of the 2022 Opera America Discovery 2022 Award, among many other accolades. Chaker commenced her musical training at the National Higher Conservatory of Beirut in her native country, before pursuing higher degrees at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Royal Academy of Music in London. She is a Laureate of the 2019 Concours international de Chant-Piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger; Finalist of the 2018 Rolex Mentor & Protege Prize; winner of the 2017 Ruth Anderson Competition; and recipient of the 2019 Diaphonique Franco-British Commission Prize, the 2018 Arab Fund for Arts and Culture Grant and the 2018 Royal Academy of Music Guinness Award. Learn more at www.layalechaker.com.

About ETHEL
Established in New York City in 1998, the string quartet ETHEL sets the contemporary concert standard:  “indefatigable and eclectic” (The New York Times), “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker). Composer performers – Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Corin Lee (violin) – fuse  uptown panache with downtown genre mashup. ETHEL has performed across the United States and worldwide; released 9 feature albums; guested on 40 recordings; won a GRAMMY® with jazz legend Kurt  Elling; and toured with Todd Rundgren & Joe Jackson. ETHEL champions the art and music of today, forging human connections across sound and style, and has premiered over 250 works, many of them commissioned by the quartet.

ETHEL has been featured at TED Conferences; on ABC Radio Australia, SiriusXM, Conan O’Brien, John  Schaefer’s New Sounds, Fred Child’s Performance Today, Randy Cohen’s Person Place Thing, NPR’s  Weekend Edition; and on the soundtracks of Dan In Real Life and HBO’s Deadwood. From mid-2020 to early ‘22, ETHEL curated and produced Balcony Bar from Home, a virtual series hosted on The Metropolitan  Museum’s Facebook page which has garnered nearly 2 million views. ETHEL is Ensemble-in-Residence at Denison University, and Resident Ensemble at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Petrie Court Café. 

About Sarafand Ensemble
Sarafand features Jake Charkey (cello), Sam Minaie (bass), Phillip Golub (piano) and John Hadfield (drums).
2019 saw the release of Inner Rhyme woven as a suite that explores the sounds, rhythms, rhymes, shapes and forms of Arabic poetry. This album was released on In a Circle Records (Silkroad & Yo Yo Ma, Brooklyn Rider), and listed as "Top of The World" by Songlines with a 5-star review, rated #2 on NPR 10 Best Releases, #1 for several weeks on the World Charts of iTunes and Amazon Music, and has received praises by the BBC Music Magazine, The New York Times, The Strad, Strings Magazine, Jazz World among others.

The ensemble has since performed in venues such as National Sawdust, The Stone, the MET, Classical:NEXT, Metaal Kathedral Utrecht, Peniche Anako (Paris), Morgenland Festival (Germany), Brighton Festival (UK), Hancher Auditorium, DROM, City of Asylum, Marlboro Festival, WQXR’s The Greene Space, New Sounds, among others. Radio Afloat was developed during Layale's year-long residency with WQXR in 2022.

*Photo Credit: Anna Rakhvalova

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