Freer|Sackler Concert Series

Celebrate the mid-autumn Moon Festival or get in the mood for spring with this entrancing performance on the ancient zheng (a zither) by virtuoso Bing Xia, a graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory. She performs works devoted to the Moon (a key focus of the autumn festival), the fall migration of wild geese, and thoughts occasioned by the autumn season, as well as music invoking springtime, fishing, mountains, and rivers. This performance was recorded at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in 2000 in conjunction with the exhibition Music in the Age of Confucius.

Two of Iran’s most celebrated soloists joined forces in this performance of Persian classical music recorded at the Freer Gallery in 1997. In solos and duets, they explore the improvisational styles and emotive expressiveness unique to Persian music. Hossein Alizadeh, on the tār (Persian lute), has received two Grammy nominations, recorded more than two dozen CDs, and composed original soundtracks for award-winning feature films. Kayhan Kalhor, on the kamāncheh (Persian fiddle), was a founding member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad ensemble, earned three Grammy nominations, and recorded with the ground-breaking ensemble Brooklyn Rider. Alizadeh and Kalhor are accompanied by Pejman Hadadi on dombak.

(Photo by Mohammad Kheirkah Zoyari)

Cappella Romana, a leading Byzantine music ensemble of virtuoso singers from Greece, England, and the United States, performs "Medieval Byzantine Chant: Advent and Christmas from St. Catherine's Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt." This concert was part of the Meyer Concert Series and was presented on November 30, 2006, in conjunction with the Sackler exhibition In the Beginning: Bibles Before the Year 1000, and in cooperation with the J. Paul Getty Museum exhibition Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai.

Led by master musician Ngek Chum, Cambodian musicians from across the United States perform the undulating melodies and mellow percussion of classical Khmer music that accompanies Buddhist dance-dramas. This performance for the play Buddha Overcomes All Obstacles was produced by Cambodian American Heritage, Inc. (CAHI) and presented in 2018 in conjunction with the exhibition Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia.

Hear one of India’s most esteemed soloists as Krishna Mohan Bhatt performs Indian ragas on sitar, accompanied by tabla virtuoso Anindo Chatterjee on percussion. Their concert features an extensive rendition of raga Yaman Kalyan as well as music inspired by folk tunes and Bengali devotional songs. Yaman Kalyan is one of the most popular ragas and can be heard throughout Indian musical culture, from Bollywood film songs to the most elevated classical recitals.

Hear the award-winning Jasper String Quartet play two works by the Japanese composer Akira Nishimura: Pulse of Lights, which was premiered in Tokyo in 1992, and Spring, which received its world premiere at this concert and is inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Four virtuosos from the Siberian republic of Tuva astonished listeners with their overtone singing in this concert at the Freer Gallery. Each singer’s ability to produce multiple pitches at once draws on ancient pastoral music that invokes the rich sounds of nature, from waterfalls and babbling brooks to complex bird songs and the howling winds of the steppe. This live performance was recorded on the steps of the Freer Gallery of Art in 2002.

Hear new music for Bronze Age bells, folk songs arranged by Pulitzer Prize winner Zhou Long, music from 11th-century Buddhist caves, and “Hundred Antiquities” by Grammy-nominated composer Zhou Tian, co-commissioned by the Freer and Sackler Galleries. This concert was presented in 2018 in conjunction with the exhibition Resound: Ancient Bells of China.

Camille Saint-Saëns’s gorgeously romantic Fifth Piano Concert, written while the composer lived in Luxor, forms the heart of this recital of music inspired by Egypt. Hear it performed in the composer’s own rapturous arrangement for two pianos. Also enjoy the atmospheric Canope, Claude Debussy’s musical response to funerary urns from the ancient Nile, and Anton Arensky’s charming Egyptian Nights, written for Russia’s Imperial Ballet. The concert concludes with Sergei Rachmaninoff’s spectacular Études-tableaux. This performance was presented at the Freer Gallery in 2017 in conjunction with the exhibition Divine Felines: Cats in Ancient Egypt.

Enjoy music unique to Japan’s southernmost region, from the lyrical songs and dance rhythms of folk music to contemporary styles inspired by jazz and pop. The Ryukyuans trio features Yukito Ara, Isamu Shimoji, and Shinobu Matsuda on vocals and the sanshin (Okinawan lute). They are joined by Satoshi “Sunday” Nakasone on Okinawan drum. Recorded in concert at the Freer Gallery as part of the Music From Japan Festival 2014.