Looking through my old files, I found this video from the premiere of my piece, The Ritual - A Folk Fantasia back in 2015. The video brought back many wonderful memories with friends, so I decided to share it.
The Ritual is a fantasia based on Greek folk rhythms and idioms. The piece tries to musically depict the experience of a traveler who witnesses a pagan ritual. The strange ceremony takes place around a bonfire at a cold and distant mountain settlement. Masked people burst into a frenzy of dance and ecstatic priests pray to their gods. As the ritual progresses, the traveler’s mind becomes misty. Soon he transcends reality and enters a strange world—a world of dreams, a world of fantasy. There he discovers hidden spiritual treasures that will change his life forever. Finally, his spirit gets pulled back into his body while the natives continue their dance and end the ritual. The piece combines heterophonic dance elements (representing the secular part of the ritual) with strict contrapuntal writing, including a double canon (representing transcendence and the spiritual world). This video was recorded on April 20th 2015, at Greenfield Hall, New York, NY
I would like to extent my deepest gratitude to all my performer friends who did such an amazing job bringing my piece to life. I hope all of you are well and I hope we cross paths soon! Ashley Hunter, Flute Hila Zamir, Clarinet Nick Sakakeeny, Bendir Anthony LaLena, Guitar Violetta Maria-Norrie, Harp Er-Hsuan Li, Celesta Alexandros Petrin, Violin Edward Kim, Violincello Abraham Masso III, Double Bass Aris Antoniades, Conductor