Music Mondays features global music ensemble duoJalal

Cornell College’s 2017-18 Music Mondays series opens on Nov. 6 with a genre-bending combination of classical and world music by duoJalal. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in King Chapel and is open and free to the public.

duoJalal features the classically trained Australian violist Kathryn Lockwood and percussionist Yousif Sheronick, a leading artist in the classical, world, jazz, and rock music arenas. The duo provides an intercultural experience that moves from classical to klezmer and Middle Eastern to jazz. They are inspired by their namesake, 13th-century poet Jalal a din Rumi, whose visions and words brought together people of different religions, cultures, and races.

Their Cornell concert features contemporary compositions and an interpretation of a medieval dance melody. Highlights include:

• “Klezmer a la Bechet” by David Krakauer (b. 1956), a musical description of an imaginary meeting between Sidney Bechet, jazz clarinet and soprano saxophone virtuoso, and Naftule Brandwein, the legendary Eastern European Jewish klezmer clarinetist.
• A duoJalal commission, “Lost & Found (2010)” by Kenji Bunch (b. 1973), an exploration of the diverse stylistic possibilities presented by the duo.
• “Summer in the High Grassland” by Zhao Jiping (b.1945), written as part of the Silk Road Suite for Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
• “Honey from Alast” by Evan Ziporyn (b.1959), based on these words of Rumi, Poem #376 and featuring elements of Middle Eastern modes, Indian rhythms, Balkan meters, African ideas about cycle, and Indonesian timbres.

Kathryn Lockwood, viola
Lockwood moved to the United States from Australia in 1991 and was an original member of the Pacifica Quartet. She captured the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, Grand Prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, Concert Artists Guild Management Award, and awards at solo competitions such as the Primrose Competition, Washington International Competition, and the Pasadena Instrumental Competition. She is on faculty at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She earned her master’s degree with Donald McInnes at the University of Southern California, and her bachelor of music degree from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with Elizabeth Morgan. www.kathrynlockwood.com

Yousif Sheronick, percussion
Sheronick has performed around the globe, genre-hopping with leading artists in the classical, world, jazz, and rock music arenas. Of Lebanese descent, Yousif is considered one of the world’s most versatile percussionists. His influences are far reaching as he grew up playing a rock and roll drum set, studied classical percussion through a masters degree at Yale University, and went on to study music from Brazil, India, Africa, and the Middle East. These combined influences propelled Yousif into performances with Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Lark Quartet, Ethos Percussion Group, Branford Marsalis, Sonny Fortune, Cindy Blackman Santana, Glen Velez, and Paul Winter. Sheronick is also a composer and arranger, and teaches private lessons and classes at his home in New York. He holds degrees from Yale University and the University of Iowa.