Composers from Syria, Afghanistan, and the Philippines discuss their new pieces that connect conflict zones to Beethoven’s piano sonatas and his Missa Solemnis. Pianist Yael Weiss, who commissioned the pieces, plays the new works and is joined on stage by Syrian composer Malek Jandali (a prominent human rights advocate), Afghan composer Milad Yousufi, and Filipino composer Sidney Marquez Boquiren.

Jandali wrote “The Hunt for Peace” to connect with Beethoven’s Sonata no. 18 (“The Hunt”), while Yousufi’s “Willow” links to Sonata no. 8 (“Pathétique”) and Boquiren’s “Unheard Voices” was inspired by Sonata no. 7.

In addition to his composing career, Malek Jandali has spoken on Syrian cultural preservation and human rights at Harvard, Fordham, and Duke universities, the Skoll World Forum at Oxford University, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the United Nations, the Doha Debates at Georgetown University in Qatar, and TEDx. Recently he was a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University.

This program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Age Old Cities: A Virtual Journey from Palmyra to Mosul.