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World Premiere of Kareem Roustom's The Son of Man
Coro Allegro, Boston’s only mixed chorus for embers and friends of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, and the United Parish in Brookline Chancel Choir, will give two world premiere performances of The Son of Man by Kareem Roustom: at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 8 at United Parish of Brookline, and at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 15 at Church of the Covenant in Boston.
The libretto of The Son of Man is taken from poems from mystical poet Kahlil Gibran’s Jesus, The Son of Man (1928). Written as a series of dramatic monologues, The Son of Man’s text is spoken by characters, both biblical and imagined, who are contemporaries of the biblical Jesus, including Mary Magdalen, an elite Jewish scribe, and a neighbor of Jesus’s mother Mary, among others. The final text is spoken by “A Man from Lebanon, Nineteen Centuries Afterward,” understood to be the poet himself. Mr. Roustom’s oratorio dramatizes the characters’ relationship with Jesus through a complex interplay between chorus, soloists, organ, and percussion. The music references the Arabic modal system and traditional Arabic dance rhythms, resulting in a synergy between western and Arabic music that recalls the unity embodied in a Jesus who is “greater than state and race… greater than revolution,” who “wept all our unshed tears and smiled all our revolts.”
Syrian-born Kareem Roustom is an Emmy Award–nominated composer who has composed music for film, television, the concert hall, and album projects. Steeped in the musical traditions of the Arab Near East and trained in western music, Mr. Roustom is musically bilingual, and has collaborated with a wide variety of artists. As a concert composer, Mr. Roustom has had his work commissioned or performed by groups such as the Boston Children’s Chorus, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Damascus Festival Chamber Ensemble, The Firebird Ensemble, and many more. An active composer of film music, he has scored a number of short- and feature-length films, and his score for the PBS documentary The Mosque in Morgantown earned him a nomination in the 31st Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. As an arranger, Mr. Roustom has worked in a wide
variety of idioms that range from pop to jazz to Arabic music. Most notably, Mr. Roustom arranged strings for the Shakira and Beyoncé duet “Beautiful Liar,” which became the fastest rising single in Billboard history and was nominated for 2008 Grammy Award.
Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) was a Lebanese-American essayist and poet who anks as the third best-selling poet of all time. Gibran spent many years as a teenager and young adult in Boston’s South End, at the time one of the largest communities of Lebanese-American immigrants in the country. Although best known in the United States for his collection of inspiration essays, The Prophet (1923), he is the author of numerous other mystical works, including his 1928 collection of poems, Jesus, the Son of Man. Gibran’s mystical interpretation of Christianity, as well as his advocacy for the unity of all religions and the indivisibility of God, has influenced millions of readers for almost a century.
Coro Allegro was founded in 1990 and gave its debut concert in May 1991. The organization is dedicated to building social and musical bridges through high quality performances of significant choral works. Composed of 60 men and women, Coro Allegro is regarded as one of the finest choruses in Boston. In a city rich in choral groups, Coro Allegro, led by Artistic Director David Hodgkins, stands out for its ability to sing a cappella and accompanied choral works equally well, its commitment to contemporary and lesser-known composers, and its consistent musical growth.
Located in the heart of Coolidge Corner, United Parish in Brookline is an open and affirming church with affiliations to the United Church of Christ, United Methodist, and American Baptist denominations. Under the direction of Music Director Susan DeSelms, the United Parish Chancel Choir performs music from many eras and traditions of church music and worship at the church’s Sunday services, as well as in concert performances throughout the Boston area.