![\"Composer](\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/22-1121-s2p-Gabriele-Vanoni-800x600.jpg\")
PHOTO CAPTION: Composer Gabriele Vanoni explores his connection to Ellis Island with his work “Island of Peoples.” Photo by Antonio Mak.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cMy family has a connexion with Ellis Island because in the museum, you can look up for passengers,\u201d says Vanoni, \u201cAnd I found the record. I found the ship where they came. When I got to passengers\u2019 search looking for my family’s history, I found out about the Ellis Island Oral Histories.I found this amazing collection of stories of people who basically just left their country without knowing what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
These stories are told and unfold intertwined around a few common traits: the longing for home, the perils of traveling for days, and the cultural, social and human uncertainties of the new world, through the fabric of musical mastery that only Vanoni can delivery.<\/p>\n
When asked to describe his work \u201cIsland of Peoples,” Vanoni says \u201cWhat you’re gonna hear is basically three snapshots. This is a multimedia work in which you will have electronic music interludes with some media projection, and you’re gonna have three works for ensemble, which are snapshots of three stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the ensemble is very small – flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion – Vanoni\u2019s orchestration makes it a perfect vessel to express the many feelings imbued in the stories. Soprano Mary Mackenzie and tenor Kartik Ayysola are the vocalists who bring to life the three stories, sometimes singing, sometimes speaking.<\/p>\n
Vanoni decided on three particular stories because \u201cit was important to give a little bit of a glimpse of the experience to the listener. The scenes do follow pretty much like a trip. So the first section talks about leaving the country. Then the interviews and the middle section talks about being on Ellis Island. And the end of it is just the legacy, if you wish: the history and the future if you wish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like all Lowell Chamber Orchestra concerts, the performance is free and open to the public, and will take place on: Saturday, December 17, 2022, 7:30 p.m., at Middlesex Community College\u2019s Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center (240 Central Street, Lowell, MA).<\/p>\n
This concert is part of Middlesex Community College\u2019s \u201cA World of Music Concert Series.\u201d<\/p>\n
Please click the link below for more information:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/lowellchamberorchestra.org\/island-of-peoples-fundraiser<\/a><\/p>\n