Banned Books is an evening-length performance of six premieres commissioned by Ensemble Pi in response to recent U.S. bills, which ban books or curtail the discussion of critical race theory, LGBTQ+ issues, antisemitism, and other disputed topics in public schools and libraries. Taking inspiration from New York Times bestselling author Azar Nafisi’s Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times – a galvanizing guide to literature as an act of resistance – the concert aims to draw awareness to these oppressive practices while opening a space through music for reflection and connection. A diverse group of composers were asked to create pieces influenced by a particular banned book that resonated with them.
Tango by Richard Brooks for piano, violin, cello, clarinet, percussion, and a narrator. Text written by Richard Brooks, inspired by children’s book And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, with illustration by Henri Cole.
The Banned by Tamar Muskal for piano, cello, violin, marching machine, and soundtrack. Inspired by Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus.
New Kid by Laura Jobin-Acosta for piano, violin, cello, clarinet, and baritone. Inspired by Jerry Craft’s graphic novel New Kid.
Reading Nafisi by Laura Kaminsky for piano, cello, and clarinet. Inspired by Azar Nafisi’s Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times.
Praise Pecola! by Damian Norfleet for bass clarinet and voice. Inspired by Toni Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye.
Improvisation by Ensemble Pi
PERFORMERS:
Alexis Gerlach, cello
Moran Katz, clarinet
Idith Meshulam Korman, piano
Damian Norfleet, voice and narration
Bill Trigg, percussion
Airi Yoshioka, violin
Since 2002, the socially conscious new-music collective Ensemble Pi has been commissioning living composers to create work addressing a wide range of complex and challenging subjects from South Africa’s apartheid to America’s troubled relationship with guns and the nation’s deeply flawed system of mass incarceration.
For more information, please visit:
https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/classical-interludes-central-library-dweck-20231105