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“Halelu,” a 40-minute
composition for solo voices, chorus and orchestra is a collaborative effort
between New York City Symphony music director David Eaton and the prominent
Israeli singer/composer, David D'Or. The music was inspired by the efforts of
the Middle Peace Initiative (MEPI) and consists of ten movements, several of
which are based on the MEPI motto, "Peace, Shalom, Salaam Aleikum," the greetings of peace of the three Abrahamic faiths of Christanity,
Judaism and Islam.
Mr. Eaton and Mr. D'Or first met at the MEPI/Ambassadors for Peace concert in
September of 2004 at the International
Convention Center in Jerusalem.
For David D’Or this was one of the most uplifting concerts he had done in his
distinguished career. “For days I couldn’t sleep well after that concert. The
spiritual energy was so intense. And people who attended that event emailed
me for weeks afterwards expressing their appreciation and good wishes. Based
on the inspiration of that concert I felt compelled to contribute to the cause,
and the best way for me to do that was to write music.” “Halelu”
was born out of that impulse.
After a subsequent meeting in New
York early in 2005 the two Davids
began a serious creative collaboration based on several musical themes that
Mr. D'Or had composed and sent to Mr. Eaton. From March through August Mr.
Eaton arranged and orchestrated the music and with the assistance of soprano
Seiko Lee produced demos of the various movements, which were then sent to
David D'Or for approval.
For Mr. Eaton, David D’Or original musical themes represented a deep
connection to past musical traditions; traditions rooted in liturgical
concepts--Western, Oriental and Middle Eastern.
“I was very taken by richness of his [DD’s] melodic invention. I remember
feeling that some of it was very much like the music of Bach, perhaps the
greatest of the church composers. It was deeply spiritual music and evoked
the spirit of the most exalted musical expressions of that particular
culture. Other themes were evocative of the modality of the Hebrew and Arabic
traditions.
It was a fantastic juxtaposing of several traditions. I
knew we had to work together on this because David’s musical ideas were
concomitant with the entire MEPI agenda. He was a musical Ambassador for
Peace bringing several traditions into harmony.
Upon hearing some of the initial demos that David Eaton produced with Miss
Lee, David D’Or said he cried he was so moved by the arrangements. When Seiko
heard the music for the first time she called David Eaton and said, “I have
to sing with David D’Or. I feel as if this music was written for us. It’s
amazing.” David D. concurred and upon hearing Seiko’s voice asked that she be
the soprano soloist on the recording.
Once the score and parts were finished in New York, Mr. Eaton, David D. emailed
David E. with the idea of recording the music “right away.” This was in
September” recalls Mr. Eaton, “and David wanted us to come in October. I
could sense he was very excited.”
It took several months to work out the logistics of rehearsing and recording,
but in April, 2006 Mr. Eaton and Miss Lee traveled to Tel Aviv to record “Halelu” with David D'Or, the Ra'anana
Symphony Orchestra and members of the Philharmonia
Chorus of Israel,
the country’s leading professional chorus. The editing and mixing of the
recording sessions was done in May and the CD of “Halelu”
is due for release in the summer of 2006.
A concert premiere of “Halelu” is being prepared in
Jerusalem for later this year and a subsequent U.S. premiere is being
discussed with the NYC Symphony in 2006 or early 2007.
David Eaton looks at this project as having great significance in the process
of creating a cultural expression that can transcend barriers and inspire
others to be part of the peace process. “We know that music has moral and
ethical power. It can open hearts and minds in profound ways. But once we
open our hearts, where do we go? What do we seek? In the third movement of “Halelu” we hear the chorus sing, ‘Heaven rings with the
hope of Peace; The hope of all ages, forever our dream, forever the dream of
God.’ That sentiment is something that David, Seiko and I, as artists who
share the desire to use our talent for a higher purpose, hope to perpetuate
in our creative endeavors. And we hope to find other artists who share that
idea. We all have a roll to play, or a song to sing, in this pursuit.”
Download a sample: Mizrahi Dance
The New York
Symphony website: http://www.nycsymphony.org.
Singer/composer David D'Or is one of Israel's most prominent
performing artists. He has appeared with orchestras throughout the world and
has performed for numerous heads of state as well as having performed at Vatican for
Pope John Paul II. In 2004 he was voted Israel's "Singer of the
Year" and was his country's entry in the 2004 Eurovision competition.
David Eaton has been the Music Director of the New York City Symphony since 1985. He has
appeared as a guest conductor with orchestras in Europe, Asia, Canada, Central and South
America, Ukraine
and Russia.
A highly sought after composer and producer, he has scores of original
compositions to his credit and his works have been performed in prestigious
venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and
the United Nations.
David D'Or and David Eaton wish to thank the following individuals and
organizations for their support in the production of "Halelu"”
The Interreligious and International Federation for
World Peace, The Family Federation for World Peace, Middle East Peace
Initiative, Artists Association for World Peace, Orit Fogel
and the Ra'anana Symphony Orchestra, Marquis van DeMark, The Seiko Lee Project, Linda Feher,
Toko Yoshida, Davetta
Morgan, Scott Simonds, Kevin Pickard, and
Ambassadors for Peace from around the world.
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