Sacconi Quartet standing by water. Left to right - a man with short brown hair in a centre parting, wearing dark blue trousers and shirt holding a viola, woman with blonde bob wearing a light blue dress holding a violin, man with short side parting brown hair also wearing dark blue trousers and shirt, woman with dark blonde bob also in a light blue dress holding a cello
photo credit Alejandro Tamagno
Past Event
Classical Music

In Damascus

Jonathan Dove (composer), James Gilchrist (tenor) & Sacconi Quartet
Thu 26 May 2022
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Jonathan Dove composer 

James Gilchrist tenor

Sacconi Quartet

An elegy for a country torn apart by civil war; a bleak vision of lost beauty and culture; an expression of empathy, sorrow and outrage at the destruction brought about by a decade of strife. Jonathan Dove’s powerful chamber work is all these things: a masterpiece of restrained anguish which sets words by the Syrian poet Ali Safar to provide a vivid account of life in a war-torn country. It was commissioned by the Sacconi Quartet, which performs it alongside the acclaimed tenor James Gilchrist. 

Nowhere is the need for rebuilding and renewal — major themes of this year’s Festival — more urgent than in Syria. In Damascus is an eloquent plea for hope in a shattered country: hope for renewal, reconciliation and peace.

Following on from this event is Rihab Azar Trio, a concert exploring classical and contemporary Syrian and broader Middle-Eastern music through the intimate combination of oud, acoustic bass guitar and percussion

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