Pano Hora Ensemble
Charles Calomiris: Old World, New World
The Pano Hora Ensemble explores musical intersections, some of which occur when Near-Eastern or Middle-Eastern musical ideas are featured within a classical ensemble. Another distinctive element of much of what the ensemble does is its dramatic content. Greek music since Homer generally has been connected to narrative- irresistible stories of passion, grief, human nature and its foibles, the unique suffering brought by familial conflict. The composers main aspiration for this album is to present chamber music transparently, celebrating the sounds of winds and strings. "There is also another purpose: to come to grips with two worlds as I have experienced them", Calomiris says. Great importance is also given to the interaction between composer and performers, as Calomiris states: "I credit the musicians of the Pano Hora Ensemble with teaching me how to think about their instruments, and about writing music for a small ensemble, more generally. As we all have become friends, much of what I have written was imagined with these particular individuals in mind, and their contribution to the final product is more than their performance of their parts".