2 Performances (November 19th + 20th)!
La Passion de Simone (chamber version, 2013)
"A Musical Path In Fifteen Stations"
Music: Kaija Saariaho
Libretto: Amin Maalouf
Director: Aleksi Barrière
Conductor: Clément Mao-Takacs
Solo soprano: Sayuri Araida
Production by La Chambre aux échos
Mannes Composer in Residence Kaija Saariaho, whose first opera L’Amour de Loin will be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in December, will be featured in a variety of events in New York this season, including performances at the Park Avenue Armory with the New York Philharmonic and at the Juilliard School. In this context, Mannes School of Music presents two exceptional staged performances of Saariaho’s cornerstone oratorio La Passion de Simone. This musical path in 15 stations is a major work crafted by composer Kaija Saariaho and writer Amin Maalouf, a contemporary Passion play on the "luminous trajectory" of philosopher and activist Simone Weil, who devoted her life to the oppressed and met an untimely death in 1943. It will be performed in the critically-acclaimed production of the French music theater company La Chambre aux échos which has successfully toured in Europe, and for its NY premiere with musicians of the International Contemporary Ensemble and students of Mannes. ICE first performed the score at the 2016 Ojai Festival, and brings its expertise to this collaboration.
Presented by Mannes School of Music in collaboration with La Chambre aux échos and International Contemporary Ensemble. With special thanks to the Rolex Institute.
ICE’s 2016-17 performances and commissioning activities are made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, French American Cultural Exchange (FACE Foundation), the A.N. and Pearl G. Barnett Family Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, New Music USA, The Amphion Foundation, The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Concinnity Fund, The Casement Fund, the BMI Foundation, the Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research at the Eastman School of Music, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for ICE.