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Layale Chaker

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Layale Chaker is a violinist and composer whose music integrates elements of classical contemporary, jazz, Arabic music and improvisation.

Music career

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She was born in Paris and moved to Lebanon at the age of 6.[1] In 2005, Chaker began her musical studies at the National Higher Conservatory of Beirut. She later studied at the Conservatoire Regional de Paris beginning in 2010 and the Royal Academy of Music in London starting in 2017 with professors including Mohamed Hashem, Carmen Scripcariu, Jeanne-Marie Conquer and Nicholas Miller.[2] She currently performs with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim.[3]

Chaker has performed at a variety of festivals and concert halls. Festival highlights include La Biennale di Venezia,[4] Spoleto Festival,[5] London Jazz Festival, Alderburgh Festival, Morgenland Festival Osnabrueck, Junger Kunstler Festival Bayreuth, Lucerne Festival for Contemporary Music, Impuls’ Festival, Beethoven Festival Bonn and Avignon Festival. She has performed at concert halls such as Berlin Philharmonie, Abbaye de Royaumont, Hancher Auditorium, Stone, National Sawdust, Banff Centre, Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall.[2]

Her debut album, Inner Rhyme, with her chamber jazz ensemble Sarafand, was released on Circle Records in 2019, incorporating Arabic poetic meters.[1] The album ranked #2 on NPR's 10 Best Releases and #1 on the World Charts of iTunes and Amazon Music for several weeks. Additionally, the album received the AFAC 2018 fund and a "Top of The World" distinction from Songlines with a 5-star review.[6]

On May 17, 2024, she released two albums, Vigil and Radio Afloat recorded on Circle Records.[1] Vigil features new-music string quartet, ETHEL, with piece contributions by each quartet member and two piece contributions by Chaker.[7] Her album Radio Afloat, with Sarafand[1] takes inspiration from the Arabic poem, “The Trace of Blue Passion” by Lebanese poet Ounsi El Hage, and portrays a radio floating at sea, attempting to get back to its rightful place on land. Radio Afloat explores the connection between people and the natural world.[5]

Compositions

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  • Dawning (2023)[8]
  • Ruinous Gods, Seven Suites for Sleeping Children (2024)[8]
  • Matrescence (2023)[9]
  • In the Presence of Absence: In Memoriam Edward Said (2022)[10]
  • Anatomy of Titus: Fall of Rome (2022)[7]
  • The Bow and the Reed (2022)[11]
  • Before Bloom (2021)[12]
  • Bond of the Beloved (2020)[13]
  • Ghalia's Miles (2019)[14]
  • Mouhawala Oula (2019)[15]
  • Sinekeman (2019)[16]
  • Two Coasts: Past and Recent Streams (2019)[17]
  • The Brown Texts (2018)[10]
  • Moonchild: Songs from the Hinder Sea (2018)[10]
  • Confused Cherry Tree (2018)[7]
  • Borderland (2018)[19]
  • Hints on Memory, poem for violin and string orchestra (2017)[20]
  • Tied to your name by Water (2017)[21]

Awards and recognition

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  • 2022: Opera America Discovery Award[22]
  • 2020-2022: Jerome Hill Fellowship[22]
  • 2021: Sundance Art of Practice Fellowship[23]
  • 2021: Dumbarton Oaks Composition Residency[24]
  • 2020: Inaugural Silkroad Seeds Award[22]
  • 2019: Laureate of the Concours international de Chant-Piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger[22]
  • 2019: Rolex mentor and Protege Prize finalist[22]
  • 2019: Diaphonique Franco-British Commission Prize[22]
  • 2018: Arab Fund for Arts and Culture Grant[22]
  • 2018: Royal Academy of Music Guinness Award[22]
  • 2017: Ruth Anderson Competition[22]

Personal life

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Chaker currently lives in Brooklyn, New York,[1] and is studying at Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris for her doctoral degree.[25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "MusicalAmerica - Composer/Violinist Layale Chaker Spring Highlights – WP of Ruinous Gods at Spoleto, Two New Albums on In a Circle". www.musicalamerica.com. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  2. ^ a b "Layale Chaker & Sarafand - WOMEX". www.womex.com. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  3. ^ "A Violinist Questions the Musical Divide Between West and East (Published 2019)". 2019-02-01. Archived from the original on 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  4. ^ "Biennale Musica 2024 | Layale Chaker". La Biennale di Venezia. 2024-06-11. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  5. ^ a b cgrinstead@postandcourier.com, Chelsea Grinstead (2024-05-25). "Explore the space between different musical genres with this Arabic jazz act at Spoleto". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  6. ^ "Layale Chaker and Sarafand". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  7. ^ a b c Tan, Chrysanthe (2024-05-14). "Layale Chaker is "Rooted in Community and Collectivity" on New Albums with Sarafand and ETHEL". I CARE IF YOU LISTEN. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  8. ^ a b "Layale Chaker". EPSTEIN FOX PERFORMANCES. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  9. ^ "Repertoire". Aizuri Quartet. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  10. ^ a b c "In the Presence of Absence". Latitude 45 Arts. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  11. ^ "Aftab Darvishi: Hamzaad". Donemus. 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  12. ^ "Layale Chaker – The Primavera Project". Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  13. ^ "Alone Together". Cedille Records. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  14. ^ "Ghalia's Miles | Zoukak Theatre". zoukak.org. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  15. ^ "Mouhawala Oula". Institut des Cultures d’Islam (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  16. ^ "Layale Chaker". In A Circle Records. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  17. ^ "Jazz Concert: Two Coasts by Layale Chaker - Institut Français · Royaume-Uni". Institut Français · Royaume-Uni. Archived from the original on 2024-06-17. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  18. ^ "Layale Chaker & Sarafand - Inner Rhyme / a RootsWorld review". www.rootsworld.com. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  19. ^ "Lebanese musician Layale Chaker wins the Ruth Anderson (IAWM) 2017 Competition Prize". Mynewsdesk. 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  20. ^ "L'Orient-Le Jour | Actualité en direct, infos au moyen Orient et dans le monde". L'Orient-Le Jour (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  21. ^ "Save BIG with $7.99 .COMs from Go Daddy!". Go Daddy. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Layale Chaker and Sarafand". New Hampshire Public Radio. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  23. ^ "Sundance Institute's Interdisciplinary Program Sets Grantees, Art of Practice Fellows". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
  24. ^ Briggs, Jenn. "Past Residents". Dumbarton Oaks. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
  25. ^ "Layale Chaker & Sarafand biography". Last.fm. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
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