5BMF + Hunter Music Presents Aizuri Quartet & Kinan Azmeh- Music & Migration
Five Boroughs Music Festival with CUNY|Hunter College Music department and The Office of the Arts presents Aizuri Quartet & Kinan Azmeh in Music and Migration
INFO:
HUNTER COLLEGE-
IDA K. LANG RECITAL HALL
Hunter North 4th Floor
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
7:00 PM
How to get there: Map It
The Box Office will open 1 Hour prior to curtain. The Kaye Playhouse box office is located in the Hunter North Building on 68th street btw Park & Lex
A post-concert discussion with the artists, including a Q&A session with the audience, will follow the performance.
This concert is free for CUNY students and instructors and will run approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes and will not include an intermission.
To reserve your tickets in advance Get Tickets
Music and Migration: A Journey Through Sound
"Music and Migration" unites the Aizuri Quartet with Syrian-American composer Kinan Azmeh in a powerful exploration of migration as both a journey and a state of mind. Featuring a new commission by Layale Chaker and works by Azmeh, Wang Lu, and Michi Wiancko, the program reflects themes of displacement, resilience, and cultural identity.
With pieces by Komitas and Rhiannon Giddens capturing the sorrow and strength of uprooted communities, and Paquito D’Rivera’s vibrant music bridging cultures, this concert offers a profound celebration of the human spirit through music.
Aizuri Quartet
Praised by The Washington Post for “astounding” and “captivating” performances that draw from its notable “meld of intellect, technique and emotions,” the Aizuri Quartet was named the recipient of the 2022 Cleveland Quartet Award by Chamber Music America, and was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition.
The Quartet’s debut album, Blueprinting, was released by New Amsterdam Records to critical acclaim (“In a word, stunning” —I Care If You Listen), nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award and named one of NPR Music’s Best Classical Albums of 2018. Aizuri’s follow-up album, Earthdrawn Skies, was released in 2023 and praised by NPR as an album that “convincingly connects the dots in wildly diverse music stretching over eight centuries…arousing solemn contemplation, cosmic curiosity, folksy delight and introspective scrutiny.”
The Aizuri believes in an integrative approach to music-making, in which teaching, performing, writing, arranging, curation, and role in the community are all connected. Formed in 2012 and combining four distinctive musical personalities into a powerful collective, the Aizuri Quartet draws its name from “aizuri-e,” a style of predominantly blue Japanese woodblock printing that is noted for its vibrancy and incredible detail. www.aizuriquartet.com
Kinan Azmeh, Clarinet
Hailed as a “virtuoso, intensely soulful” by The New York Times, Kinan Azmeh is a Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based clarinetist and composer blending classical, jazz, and Middle Eastern traditions. A Grammy-winning artist with Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad Ensemble, he has collaborated with renowned musicians and premiered his first opera, Songs For Days To Come, in 2022. A graduate of The Juilliard School and a doctoral holder from CUNY, Kinan was recently appointed to the National Council for the Arts by President Biden.
INFO:
HUNTER COLLEGE-
IDA K. LANG RECITAL HALL
Hunter North 4th Floor
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
7:00 PM
How to get there: Map It
The Box Office will open 1 Hour prior to curtain. The Kaye Playhouse box office is located in the Hunter North Building on 68th street btw Park & Lex
A post-concert discussion with the artists, including a Q&A session with the audience, will follow the performance.
This concert is free for CUNY students and instructors and will run approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes and will not include an intermission.
To reserve your tickets in advance Get Tickets
Music and Migration: A Journey Through Sound
"Music and Migration" unites the Aizuri Quartet with Syrian-American composer Kinan Azmeh in a powerful exploration of migration as both a journey and a state of mind. Featuring a new commission by Layale Chaker and works by Azmeh, Wang Lu, and Michi Wiancko, the program reflects themes of displacement, resilience, and cultural identity.
With pieces by Komitas and Rhiannon Giddens capturing the sorrow and strength of uprooted communities, and Paquito D’Rivera’s vibrant music bridging cultures, this concert offers a profound celebration of the human spirit through music.
Aizuri Quartet
Praised by The Washington Post for “astounding” and “captivating” performances that draw from its notable “meld of intellect, technique and emotions,” the Aizuri Quartet was named the recipient of the 2022 Cleveland Quartet Award by Chamber Music America, and was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition.
The Quartet’s debut album, Blueprinting, was released by New Amsterdam Records to critical acclaim (“In a word, stunning” —I Care If You Listen), nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award and named one of NPR Music’s Best Classical Albums of 2018. Aizuri’s follow-up album, Earthdrawn Skies, was released in 2023 and praised by NPR as an album that “convincingly connects the dots in wildly diverse music stretching over eight centuries…arousing solemn contemplation, cosmic curiosity, folksy delight and introspective scrutiny.”
The Aizuri believes in an integrative approach to music-making, in which teaching, performing, writing, arranging, curation, and role in the community are all connected. Formed in 2012 and combining four distinctive musical personalities into a powerful collective, the Aizuri Quartet draws its name from “aizuri-e,” a style of predominantly blue Japanese woodblock printing that is noted for its vibrancy and incredible detail. www.aizuriquartet.com
Kinan Azmeh, Clarinet
Hailed as a “virtuoso, intensely soulful” by The New York Times, Kinan Azmeh is a Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based clarinetist and composer blending classical, jazz, and Middle Eastern traditions. A Grammy-winning artist with Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad Ensemble, he has collaborated with renowned musicians and premiered his first opera, Songs For Days To Come, in 2022. A graduate of The Juilliard School and a doctoral holder from CUNY, Kinan was recently appointed to the National Council for the Arts by President Biden.