January 23, 2007 at 19.30
Manoel Theatre, Valletta
The World Wind Band combines the diverse and colourful sounds of Asia, the middle East, Africa and Europe. Jan Hendrickse and Dirk Campbell on traditional wind instruments are joined for this concert by Tunde Jegede (Kora and cello) and Nathan Thomson (Bass and flutes).
Their music is a fusion of ethnic and contemporary sounds which encompasses traditions from all over the globe. These include music from as far afield as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Korea and West Africa. In Malta they will be presenting a programme titled ‘Listen to the reed and the tale it tells’, which is inspired by the writings of the 13th century Persian poet Rumi.
Rumi was born in modern day Afghanistan, an area which in his time was part of the vast Seljuk Empire. This empire spread from Turkey to Pakistan, an area which is rich in musical tradition. From this area come some of the oldest wind instruments in the world, and it is these instruments which make up the distinctive sound of the World Wind Band. Among their wide repertoire of instruments we find the kaval (Turkey), sorna (Iran), duduk (Armenia) and the ney (Kurdestan).
There can be no doubt that the Persian tradition placed a lot of importance on the symbolism of wind instruments, especially the reed which produces the sound on most wind instruments. In fact, Rumi opens his epic masterpiece with the line ‘Listen to the reed and the tale it tells, how it sings of separation…’. This line is the title and inspiration for the World Wind Band’s programme. The reed in Rumi’s poetry becomes a symbol for the human being who is always seeking its origin.
Tickets can be bought from the Manoel Theatre box office which can be contacted by phoning on 21 222 618 or by email on bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt. Alternatively, you can buy tickets online by logging on to www.teatrumanoel.com.mt
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Euphartes
Three Fujaristi
is a composer and multi-instrumentalist specialising in traditional wind instruments. Recordings and performances have included work with Howard Shore, Ornette Coleman, Nitin Sawhney and Tunde Jegede amongst others. He has featured as a soloist in recordings and performances with The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Ulster Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva and musicians from the London Sinfonietta.
He is in demand for film, TV and theatre work, and film credits include ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘The Passion of the Christ’, ‘Troy’, ‘Two Brothers’, ‘Beloved’, ‘The Cell’, ‘Chocolat’, ‘The Truth about Charlie’, ‘Four Feathers’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ amongst many others.
Jan has been the presenter of the BBC Internet broadcast journey around Central Asia ‘The musical Nomad', and has performed in productions for The RSC and the National theatre including ‘Tales from Ovid’ ‘The Roman Actor’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and 'Canterbury tales'.
He teaches workshop skills at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and has run community and education projects for many organisations including the Barbican Centre, the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Proms as well as running arts development and education projects in Tanzania, Gambia, Thailand and Palestine.
studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Edwin Roxburgh, passing his ARCM diploma in 1974. He composed the score to Anderson's BAFTA-winning animated film Dreamland Express in 1983. His score to David Anderson’s BAFTA-nominated Deadsy was itself nominated for the 1989 British Animation Awards.
Dirk Campbell has composed award-winning music for television commercials, films and documentaries. His opera/ballet 'The Conference of the Birds' was performed in 1994 at the Place Theatre, London. His CD 'Music From a Round Tower' was ranked third in the international Green Dolphin critics' awards for 1997. He is also a professional performer on folk wind instruments such as duduk, kaval and uilleann pipes and has been featured as solo artist in works by contemporary composers including Sir John Tavener.
Dirk Campbell has studied traditional wind instruments with Theodoros Kekes in Athens and Djivan Gasparian in Armenia as well as with musicians from the Kurdish, Iranian, Albanian and Greek communities in London. He is a visting lecturer at Goldsmiths College, London and at Bath Spa University.
is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who is uniquely placed between the worlds of Contemporary Classical, African and Pop music. He is a prolific Producer/Song writer and has worked across several genres both as a performer (Cello, Kora, Piano and Percussion) and producer.
Tunde's apprenticeship in African music began in 1978 and was further developed in 1982 when he first went to the Gambia to study the ancient Griot tradition of West Africa, with Amadu Bansang Jobarteh, Master of the Kora (West African Harp-Lute).
His appreciation of Western Classical music began with his grandfather's love of Bach and by observing his work as a church Organist. Tunde also studied Cello from the age of 8 and over the years was taught by esteemed luminaries from the Classical world at the Purcell School of Music and later the Guildhall School of Music.
In 1988 Tunde became fascinated with Jazz and worked and toured with ex-members of the Jazz Warriors founded by Courtney Pine and Cleveland Watkiss. He formed his own Jazz Ensemble, The Jazz Griots, with the sole purpose of exploring the connections between African and African Diasporic forms of music.
In 1991 he pioneered African Classical Music in the UK with the first ever national tour of the African Classical Music Ensemble, which nurtured his burgeoning composer credentials. In 1995 a BBC TV documentary, 'Africa I Remember' was done on Tunde's music and centred around his orchestral work. In this programme he performed new compositions alongside the London Sinfonietta. With his now fully fledged composer credentials, he was appointed as innovations composer for the Eastern Orchestral Board, who facilitated his working with many of the major orchestras in the UK including: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Philharmonia, Britten Sinfonia, Viva Sinfonia, The London Mozart Players and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
All these prestigious orchestras and ensembles were keen to play his original and highly evocative compositions. During this period, he was specially commissioned to write a Percussion Concerto for Evelyn Glennie and Double Orchestra, an Oratorio for the City of Milton Keynes and a string quartet for the Brodsky Quartet as a part of their 'Beethoven Op18' recording, which was released on the Vanguard label and is still being performed by them worldwide.
was born in Australia where he studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Further studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama brought him to London where he is now based as a freelance musician, composer and workshop leader. Nathan has worked extensively in collaboration with musicians throughout Africa where he lived and worked for five years. He is highly regarded as a bassist and multi-instrumentalist, performing and recording original music for film, theatre, performance and education contexts. Nathan has designed several innovative projects for the British Council, which focus on collaboration between musicians from different cultures. He is a tutor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
www.worldwindband.com
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