Heritage and Harmony

The biennial Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) is Canada’s largest composition competition, offering financial support and performance opportunities, both on stage and in the recording studio. This year’s four laureates draw inspiration from diverse sources ranging from mediaeval Jewish philosophy and pre-Hispanic cultures to Canadian landscapes and spirituality. IAM caught up with the four visionary composers to discover how they are pushing the boundaries of classical music, ahead of October’s Gala Concert in Montréal

Yair Klartag: Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music 

Congratulations on receiving the 2024 Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music! Can you share your initial reaction upon learning that you had won this prestigious award?

I was very happy to learn that I won the prize. It not only offers the opportunity to realise my musical vision at the highest standard but also provides financial support to sustain my work. 

Your prize-winning work, The Parable of the Palace, draws on Jewish philosopher Maimonides’s (1138-1204) famous parable to investigate the limits of logic and reason in explaining reality and the metaphysical. What inspired you to delve into this theme, and how do you hope listeners will engage with the piece?

This parable of the palace appears in the end of the Guide for the Perplexed – an amazing book by Maimonides, in which he tried to reconcile Aristotelian logic and reason with the Jewish beliefs. It tells the story of a palace, in which a mysterious king lives. There are different groups of people in different circles around the palace in different proximity to the king. The piece takes from the parable its geometric organisation: in the core, there is the irrational—what goes beyond reason—and around it different circles with varying distances from the irrational. 

The text is sung in its original version in Jewish Arabic. This is an extinct language that was used in Jewish communities in Arabic countries during the Middle Ages (Maimonides was residing in Egypt while writing his book); it uses mostly Arabic words but written using the Hebrew alphabet. It was an important point for me to discuss such universal ideas (reason and irrationality) through the writings of a Jewish thinker who learned about Greek philosophy through Arabic translations. 

The Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music invites composers to both creatively and critically engage with the question “What is Jewish Music?” How did you bring your unique voice and perspective as a composer to answer this question?

For many years I wanted my music to be completely universal. In recent years I discovered that the type of universality I was looking for, relates in many aspects to some parts of the Jewish heritage that I wasn’t fully aware of. For example, I was enchanted with diasporic ideas of replacing territory with books and writings as a way of existence and longevity. 

Your compositional output spans a wide range of genres, including music theatre, orchestral, vocal and chamber music. How has your experience working across these various forms influenced your approach to composing The Parable of the Palace,
a work for choir and four double basses?

The choice of the instrumentation was closely related to the geometrical idea I described. The double basses create a sort of irrational swamp in the depth of the piece. The expression I was trying to achieve is of a mystical landscape, where certain elements appear to have a clear inner logic, but always melt into the irrational core. 

How does being a faculty member at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance inform your career as a composer and vice versa?

Teaching composition is an inspiring and enriching experience. It’s quite amazing to see the interesting ideas young composers have before they are constrained by the realities of the medium, and it’s a privilege to accompany these young artists as they find their voice. 

There are many cross-influences between teaching and composing. As a composer, I always consider the listener’s attention and experience, insights that are very relevant to teaching as well. I strive to treat teaching as a creative activity, always finding new and exciting angles.

Juan Trigos: Azrieli Commission for International Music 

Congratulations on being named the inaugural laureate of the Azrieli Commission for International Music! What was your initial reaction upon learning that you had won this prestigious award?

It took me several days to assimilate the great news; I really did not expect it at that moment. Of course, I was very happy at the time and now that the work is finished and on its way to the premiere, even more so.

Your prize-winning work, Simetrías Prehispánicas, aims to honour the pre-Hispanic culture of your native Mexico. Can you share more about your inspiration for this piece?

In Simetrías Prehispánicas (Pre-Hispanic Symmetries), I used a libretto created by my father Juan Trigos Sr, which he called Poetic Inventions. He used fragments of original texts in Spanish and Nahuatl by anonymous and known poets of the 15th century and arranged them in another order to create a new work. Simetrías Prehispánicas aims to abstract the meaning of Nahua poetry through manipulation, fragmentation and the reiterations and diphraseisms (a rhetorical device common in Nahuatl literature).

The work is built from the text and its parts, their sonority, intrinsic rhythm (symmetries and reiterations), punctuation and meaning. The chorus is the protagonist.

Your Abstract Folklore compositions incorporate various native music traditions. How has your experience working with these traditions influenced your approach to composing Simetrías Prehispánicas?

Abstract Folklore simply better describes what I am and my artistic interest. What is important to me is not the term itself, but rather the musical invention and personal contribution. Folklore is understood as attachment to the earth, as the purity of the music material and the primary expression without contamination. It has everything to do with passion, sensitivity and delight in music, with tradition and avant-garde simultaneously. The word folklore is used instead of popular because in my opinion it better reflects this notion, but above all, to differentiate it from commercial and entertainment.  

In Simetrías Prehispánicas I do not use any traditional melody or rhythm. It is the sound abstraction derived from the assimilation of the text in its combination and complexity – the various symmetries are very important – along with musical gestures (cells or motifs) that contain characteristic features, such as the ornaments around the actual note, syncopated rhythms and certain scales, which allude to indigenous music. It is an abstract invention. 

The symmetries are in the text. In Nahuatl literature it is very common to have them in addition to reiterations and other rhetorical devices. My father used fragments of all the original texts and arranged them in another order to create a new work. The concept of Pre-Hispanic Symmetries (as in geometry) aims to abstract the meaning of Nahua poetry and therefore in its translation in Spanish. 

As part of the prize package, your work will receive a world-premiere performance followed by two subsequent international performances and a professional recording. How do you anticipate this exposure will impact your career as a composer and your ability to reach new audiences?

I have extensive experience as a composer and conductor and this prize package will surely have a great impact on my career. It is not easy to have performances in two or three different countries and a professional recording of a new work in a short timeframe; generally, this process takes much longer, sometimes several years. Finally, I am delighted to have been selected and to have the opportunity to share my work with a wider audience.

Jordan Nobles: 2024 Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music 

Congratulations on being named the 2024 Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music laureate! What was your initial reaction upon learning that you had won this prestigious award?

When I first learned that I had been awarded the 2024 Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music, I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement. The Azrieli Music Prizes are such a remarkable platform for celebrating music composition in Canada. Winning this prize is a significant milestone in my career, and it was deeply humbling to know that my work had resonated with the jury.

Your prize-winning work, Kanata, is described as a tribute to the Canadian landscape inspired by your travels across the country. Can you share more about your vision for this piece and how you captured the essence of Canada’s diverse landscapes through music?

Kanata is my personal homage to the natural beauty of Canada’s rivers, lakes, mountains and coastlines. My experiences hiking, kayaking and exploring with family and friends have deeply shaped my love for these landscapes. The idea for Kanata comes from a previous choral work in which I used star names as text. I found it fascinating to treat those names not just as language but as a textural element in the music. 

Kanata is not a direct representation of Canada’s physical geography but rather a sonic meditation on the emotional and spiritual connections we have to the land. I wanted to reflect the vastness of Canada’s diverse landscapes, and the complex histories attached to these places, particularly the Indigenous place names that existed long before colonial settlement. My goal was to create a work that celebrates these original names by using fragments of their sounds, forming a collage of phonemes that evokes the essence of place. Rather than depicting landscapes like mountains or rivers in a literal way, I sought to express the feeling of being in these environments—the stillness, awe and reverence they inspire.

The jury praised your compositions as “elemental, expansive, and engaging”, pulling listeners into your sound world. How do you approach the process of creating music that resonates with audiences?

My creative process begins with the intention of writing music I would enjoy as a listener. It is rooted in the idea of creating spaces for listeners to inhabit. I often work with large, slowly shifting textures that allow listeners to lose themselves in the sound, to breathe with the music, and to engage with it on their own terms. 

As part of the prize package, your work will receive a world-premiere performance, followed by two subsequent international performances and a professional recording. How do you anticipate this exposure will impact your career as a composer and your ability to reach new audiences?

The performers involved in the premiere of my new composition, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Chorus, are excellent musicians, and I’m eager to see how they bring this work to life in performance and on the recording. This international exposure is a fantastic opportunity for my music to reach new ears. 

I’ve found that as my work is performed in different places, it sparks curiosity and leads to further interest in my compositions. The subsequent international performances and professional recording will broaden my audience, potentially introducing my music to people who haven’t heard it before. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of sharing unusual, beautiful music with new listeners, and this prize will undoubtedly help to extend that reach.

Josef Bardanashvili, the Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music

Congratulations on winning the Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music How did you feel when you learned that your composition, Light to My Path, had been selected for this prestigious award?

First of all, I would like to thank the members of the jury, who considered me worthy of this prestigious honour. I was very happy to receive it.  I have received awards throughout my long creative career, but the scale and significance of the Azrieli award are quite different.

Light to My Path is based on the various states of belief outlined in the Book of Psalms. Can you elaborate on what inspired you to draw from this source, and how you translated these themes into musical movements?

The Psalms have been an endless source of inspiration over the centuries, and I have been working for years to set the text in the Psalms to music. Every person’s spiritual condition is brilliantly conveyed in them.

The jury praised your music for its beauty and for inviting the listener into your inner musical and sacred world. Could you describe your creative process when composing Light to My Path? How did you ensure that the piece would resonate with listeners?

It is very difficult to know how the listener will receive this work. It is my hope that the emotion emanating from the music is truly sincere and the work brings some spiritual joy to the listener.  I will be happy if Light to My Path introduces my work to the wider community of music lovers in a new way.

Your composition features a mixed choir, saxophone, percussion and piano. What led you to choose this specific instrumentation, and how do the different instruments contribute to the overall impact of the piece?
Since the work conveys different emotional states of a person, I tried to give each of the five parts a different accompaniment, to offer a different colour of performance. As a result, at times the piece sounds as if it’s being sung by a men’s choir, at others by a women’s or combined choir.

The Azrieli Music Prizes foster opportunities for the discovery, creation, performance and celebration of excellence in music composition. How do you believe this award will impact your career as a composer, and what opportunities do you see arising from this recognition?

Every work, just like a person, has its fate and luck. I hope that the fate of Light to My Path will turn out to be good and that, in the future, high-level professional choral groups will embrace it and perform it.

On the other hand, the possible success of myself and my fellow award-winning colleagues will in itself contribute to the promotion of Jewish music, which is incredibly rich in its history and achievements. In my opinion, this is one of the aims of the Azrieli Foundation.

As a composer with a diverse background and extensive experience working with various orchestras and institutions, how do you see your work contributing to the broader cultural landscape of Jewish music and beyond? What message or theme do you hope listeners take away from
Light to My Path?

The map of Jewish musical art is infinitely large and varied. It is the chronicle of our nation’s life and at the same time the greatest treasure of mankind. Born in a provincial town of Georgia, brought up in a traditional Jewish family, and currently a creator living in Israel, I try to share with the world my boundless love for our beautiful world, and I work to connect
to the largest army of music lovers through one of the great literary masterpieces of mankind in my language, the language of music.