DCINY PROUDLY PRESENTS
The Drop of Dawn
THE MUSIC OF GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER
CHRISTOPHER TIN
Featuring the WORLD PREMIERE of The Drop that Contained the Sea & Tin’s Grammy Winning Calling All Dawns
JONATHAN GRIFFITH, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor CHRISTOPHER TIN, Composer-in-Residence
FEATURING Mezzo-sopranos Charity Dawson and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, Tenor Saum Eskandani, Indian Classical Vocalist Roopa Mahadevan,
Mongolian Singer Nominjin, Nathalie Pires, Fadista, and Maori chanter Jerome Kavanagh
DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS ORCHESTRA AND SINGERS INTERNATIONAL
Sunday, April 13 at 8:30 PM | Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall
For Immediate Release, March 21, 2014, New York, NY … DCINY expands its collaboration with innovative young composer and two-time Grammy Award-winner Christopher Tin with an exhilarating night of Tin’s music at Carnegie Hall. The Drop of Dawn on Sunday, April 13 at 8:30 pm, unites two large-scale, multi-lingual choral and orchestral works: the world premiere of The Drop That Contained The Sea, and a performance of Tin’s acclaimed Calling All Dawns, whose opening movement, “Baba Yetu,” made history as the first piece of music written for a video game to win a Grammy Award. Performing with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Singers International, which features outstanding choruses chosen from across the US, Canada and England, and conducted by DCINY Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith, is an array of spectacular singers and world music artists including mezzo-sopranos Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (of Anonymous 4) and Charity Dawson, tenor Saum Eskandani, Indian Classical vocalist Roopa Mahadevan, Mongolian pop star Nominjin, and Portuguese fado singer Nathalie Pires. The Drop That Contained The Sea will also be released on CD and iTunes on May 8, with pre-orders available starting April 13 onChristopherTin.com.
The Drop That Contained the Sea is a fascinating collection of works composed between 2012 and 2014, commissioned by DCINY and other organizations. “The title comes from a Sufi concept,” says Tin, explaining, “In the same way that every drop of water contains the essence of the sea, inside every human is the essence of all of humanity.” Different sections evoke water in different forms, such as clouds, rain, and snow, and are arranged in the order that water flows through the world, from snow to mountain streams, streams become rivers, and rivers pouring into the ocean. Each of the 10 pieces is sung in a different language, starting with Proto-Indo-European, the ancestral root of most modern languages, and spanning out to others including Bulgarian, Xhosa, Sanskrit, and Lango.
A 12-part song-cycle in three movements, Calling All Dawnsjourneys from joy to darkest sorrow and mystery, and back to triumph and exultation. Movements named day, night and dawn correspond with the phases of life, death, and rebirth. A total of twelve different languages are represented, including Swahili, Mandarin, Hebrew, Irish, and Farsi, with texts both sacred and secular. Calling All Dawns’ first movement, “Baba Yetu,” was originally composed for the video game Civilization IV but soon took on a life of its own, going on to winning a Grammy Award – a first for a piece of music written for a video game. Time Magazine hailed the “rousing, anthemic theme song” with Higher Plain Music calling the album “a masterpiece … pure and absolute musical hedonism.”
CHRISTOPHER TIN’s work covers diverse terrain: from thrilling fusions of orchestral and world music, to brooding reinventions of 90s electronica, to award-winning scores for film, video games, and commercials. Following his undergraduate education at Stanford University, Tin won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London where he earned a MMus with Distinction, winning the Horovitz Composition Prize. His music has been performed by orchestras including the National Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and Metropole Orchestra. His music for video games includes Civilization IV and Pirates Of The Caribbean Online, in addition to working on Hollywood blockbusters X2: X-Men United and Lilo and Stitch 2, and a host of independent features, documentaries and TV specials.
Hollywood blockbusters X2: X-Men United and Lilo and Stitch 2, and a host of independent features, documentaries and TV specials. Major advertising clients include Puma, Verizon, and The Gap, and others. His compositions can also be heard as the startup sound for Microsoft’s Surface operating system, and a demo song for Apple’s Garage Band software, now found on every new Mac computer.
Tickets $20 – $100 at www.carnegiehall.org, 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office
*****
An acclaimed conductor, educator and lecturer,Jonathan Griffith has led performances across North America, Europe and Asia. Griffith is co-founder and Artistic Director of DCINY, which has brought together, under Griffith’s artistic leadership, thousands of musicians and choral singers in concert at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Disney Hall. Griffith also oversees DCINY’s mentoring program for conductors. Maestro Griffith’s additional conducting credits include the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City; Manhattan Philharmonic and New England Symphonic Ensemble; The European Symphony Orchestra in Spain; Bohuslava Martinů Philharmonia and Philharmonia Chorus, Virtuosi Pregensis Chamber Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, and Dvořák Chamber Orchestra, in the Czech Republic; and the Bialystok State Philharmonic in Poland, as well as numerous orchestras and choruses across the United States.
Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek is a member of the acclaimed vocal quartet Anonymous 4, performing all over the world and recording many award winning CDs, including the Billboard chart-topping American Angels. She was also a featured soloist on the Grammy-winning album Calling All Dawns. In addition to her work with Anonymous 4, she is a versatile and accomplished soloist, performing music from Bach to Babbitt with ensembles including The Washington Bach Consort DC and the Bach Sinfonia DC.
Charity Dawsoncan currently be seen as disco diva, Lavora Verona in the new Off-Broadway musical Disaster!. She is back in New York after playing the role of Effie White in the national/international tour of Dreamgirls. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Charity began performing with her family in church in Detroit before moving to New York to study at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Saum Eskandani currently appears in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway Musical Disaster!. Raised in Las Vegas, Saum earned a BFA at the Boston Conservatory of Music in 2006. As a singing actor based in New York, he helped develop new musicals with Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, vocalist Dar Williams, and Sirius Radio star Seth Rudetsky. He dabbled in Kirtan while recording harmonies for noted yogi troubadour Spring Groove.
Roopa Mahadevan is a versatile Indian classical vocalist who has performed across the U.S. and India. Born and raised in Northern California, she received training in Carnatic (South Indian Classical) vocal music under Asha Ramesh and subsequently, through a Fulbright scholarship, trained in Chennai, India, under Suguna Varadachari. Roopa has also trained in Bharathanatyam (South Indian classical dance) and performs R&B/soul music and musical theater. Roopa has worked on cross-over projects with many contemporary artists including Karsh Kale, Samrat Chakrabarti, Mike Block, Mythili Prakash, and Ragamala Dance Company. She was also the lead soloist for a track on the 2010 Grammy Award-winning album Calling All Dawns.
Nominjinis a 24-year old multi-lingual and multi-cultural singer, hit songwriter, actress and MC. She has performed in more than 15 countries as a solo singer in front of audiences of up to 70,000 people, singing in 12 languages. In addition to more than a dozen #1 hits in her native country of Mongolia, Nominjin was featured on the John Lennon tribute album Peace, Love and Truth by Yoko Ono/EMI, as well as Love: Best of Ten Years, alongside Christina Aguilera, Toni Braxton, Norah Jones and Ricky Martin. Currently based in Hollywood, Nominjin was selected also one of PETA’s sexiest vegetarian celebrities two years running.
Nathalie Piresproudly represents what is arguably the oldest urban folk music in the world, the soul of Portugal, Fado. Born and raised in the United States, Nathalie’s intense voice and raw emotion have gained her international recognition as one of the leading “Fadistas” of her generation. Her achievements include a medal of merit awarded by the Amalia Rodrigues Foundation, the 2013 Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS) Young “Promessa” award, and she was recently described as the “Fresh face of Fado” by the Boston Globe. Her award-winning debut album, Corre-me o Fado Nas Veias, led her to stages all over the United States, Canada and Europe, including performances in some of the most prestigious Fado houses in Lisbon alongside living legends of the genre.
Internationally acclaimed ancient Maori music artist Jerome Kavanagh hails from the Mokai Patea and Maniapoto tribes of New Zealand. Jerome has travelled globally promoting the art of Taonga Puoro throughout schools, colleges, universities and museums presenting his collection of Maori musical instruments for the past ten years. Showcasing his talents with his family band, Hui-a, most recently in the Sydney Opera house, Roundhouse London and the British museum.
Founded by Iris Derke (General Director) and Jonathan Griffith (Artistic Director and Principal Conductor) Distinguished Concerts International is driven by passion, innovative vision, a total belief in its artists, and unwavering commitment to bringing forth unforgettable audience experiences.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Shira Gilbert
514.585.3868
