Celebrate World Music!
Celebrate World Music sold out the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall on March 24, 2013. For this innovative event, eight composers were invited to create an original work of music for an instrument associated with a particular country or culture. Each instrument was selected based on its seminal role in the music and dance of that region, and ranged from the Persiar tar, a stringed instrument used in Iran and the Caucasus, to the didgeridoo from Australia’s Aboriginals.
Composers were: Nan Avant, Glenna Burmer, Catherine Grealish, Tim Huling, Todd Kovell, Lonnie Mardis, Eric Nielsen and Jason Staczek. Solo artists were: Kevin Auld, Eliot Grasso, James Howard and Danny Godinez, Greg Powers, Paul Beck, Shourangiz Pourahmadi, Chuck Deardorf, Tom Dziekonski and Arturo Rodriguez. The concert was the brainchild of Glenna Burmer, president of Burmer Music, and co-produced with Tim Huling, founder of The Composition Lab.
In 2014, the concert CD was named a winner in the 13th Independent Music Awards Vox Pop poll, the fan-determined portion of the prestigious international award program for independent artists. The CD won in the Contemporary Classical category. A second IMA Vox Pop award that same year went to composer Nan Avant, whose composition “Tributum” was part of the Celebrate World Music concert and CD.
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“Spanish Dances” by Glenna Burmer – Featuring Flamenco dancer Ana Montes
