Connect with us

NYC: Love Songs A Centerpiece Of Thursday’s Mohammed Fairouz Concert

Published

on

A concert of music by the exciting young composer Mohammed Fairouz will be presented by Issue Project Room in Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral in Brooklyn at 8:00 PM on Thursday,  October 11.

The venue is easily accessible via subway. On the Remsen Street side of the Cathedral are bronze medallions from the legendary luxury liner SS Normandie.

Fairouz’s Three Fragments of Ibn Khafajah — to be presented on Thursday — are songs with gay love poem texts written by the renowned 11th century Andalusian poet.

Looking over these verses, it is almost impossible not to imagine them being set to song.

This is the central text of Fairouz’s cycle:

We saw him in the likeness of the image of Joseph
We saw him in the likeness of the majesty of Solomon
His cloak enshrouded him as a page of temptation
Of which we read his face as it’s addressing line
His love is my religion and his dwelling my temple
Seeing him is my pilgrammage and remembering him my scripture

Fairouz took up composing  Three Fragments of  Ibn Khafajah just after completion of his opera Sumeida’s Song, which is to premiere in New York in January, 2013.

Already recorded, the opera is a powerful, grim drama; Fairouz describes composing Ibn Khafajah’s love poems as a welcome contrast.

I spoke with him over the telephone.

“These are really poignant love poems about a man’s passion for another man, yet, they express love in a universal sense; I am sure that anybody who has ever been in love, whether heterosexual or gay, can feel their way into the texts.”

The songs originally were a commission from Cygnus Ensemble; flute, violin, cello, and guitar perform with the singer.

Fairouz says: “The plucking sounds, and especially the sound of the guitar, evoke Andalusia, and serenading one’s love.”

Also on the Thursday evening program, Fairouz’s String Quartet, The Named Angels.

The composer’s inspiration for this composition was found in four angels common to the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions.  The four angels in question are Mikhail, Azrael, Jibreel and Israfel.

“I undertook this work as somebody not really religious, and yet intrigued that there is a certain universality in the way these three traditions face death.  With all of the insane things that we see going on, I try to create music that will unite people, not cause them to perpetuate hostilities.”

The Named Angels received its premiere performance September 30 in Kansas City at the Carlsen Center. Fairouz was inspired by the facility and the audience.

“Kansas City is now in the middle of a remarkable cultural revival,” he says. “The people there who are funding the arts out of passion really deserve a lot of credit for what they are doing; they get no state support.  And the warm audience reaction to my music was extraordinarily meaningful to me.”

Also on the Thursday program, Fairouz’s setting of Auden’s Refugee Blues, impressive and moving, as I reported in my review of its premiere last season.

Rounding out the offerings: Fairouz’s Lamentation and Satire and Chorale Fantasy.

Between the unusual venue of the cathedral, and the constantly evolving talents of the composer, this is sure to be a very special evening.

Image courtesy of Issue Project Room

New York City-based novelist and freelance writer Scott Rose’s LGBT-interest by-line has appeared on Advocate.com, PoliticusUSA.com, The New York Blade, Queerty.com, Girlfriends and in numerous additional venues. Among his other interests are the arts, boating and yachting, wine and food, travel, poker and dogs. His “Mr. David Cooper’s Happy Suicide” is about a New York City advertising executive assigned to a condom account.

 

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘He Was the Only One’: Trump Mocked for Declaring Iran’s Moves ‘Shocked’ Him

Published

8 hours ago

on

March 16, 2026

By

President Donald Trump is facing criticism and mockery after admitting he was “shocked” that Iran fought back against Operation Epic Fury.

“Trump just admitted publicly that his administration underestimated the Iranian response to his attack,” The Washington Post’s Josh Rogin reported.

During a meeting of the board governing the Kennedy Center, Trump said, “look what happened. In the last two weeks, they weren’t supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them. So they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked.”

Focusing on Trump’s “shocked” remark, some critics blasted the president, once again, for what many have previously said is a Commander-in-Chief who was unprepared to go to war against Iran.

The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser called Trump’s comments a “Remarkable admission.”

READ MORE: ‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Justin Amash declared, “We are governed by complete morons.”

Podcaster Clint Russell noted, “Just FYI, this is the EXACT reason our generals have consistently advised against a war with Iran. Even Charlie Kirk had laid this all out on his show a couple years ago. Iran was no threat to America but they were fully capable of destroying the global economy by striking oil facilities and transit throughout the region.”

Robert Manning, a Distinguished Fellow in Global Foresight at the nonpartisan Stimson Center, wrote: “If so, he was the only one surprised. Strategic planners have war games this for 40 years. Hard to believe JCS [Joint Chiefs of Staff] didn’t advise Trump this was likely.”

“I’m pretty confident every war plan US has ever done in last 30 years gaming out this conflict was based on expectation that Iran could in fact [and] would in fact do this,” noted The Nation’s Jeet Heer.

“Every institution built to prevent exactly this outcome existed, was bypassed, and we are now watching the president express shock at conclusions that were already written in the classified assessments he didn’t read,” observed Christine Villaverde, the chairwoman of Anchoring Democracy.

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

 

Image via Reuters 

Continue Reading

News

‘Lazy and Unstrategic’: GOP Senator Slams ‘Republican on Republican Violence’

Published

9 hours ago

on

March 16, 2026

By

A prominent Republican senator is denouncing his own party while lamenting the lack of an official presidential endorsement in the highly contentious Texas Republican Senate runoff election.

Agreeing that it is a mistake for President Donald Trump to withhold his endorsement of either Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or U.S. Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) warned, “I think the more time we spend millions of dollars with Republican-on-Republican violence, Democrats are in the marketing department, loving the idea of a competitive runoff.”

“I get tired of Republicans being lazy and unstrategic,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju, appearing to suggest there are other ways for one of the candidates to pull ahead.

“People on my side of the aisle, and people at the far right of the political spectrum, are trying to swing for the fences, and they’re not gonna succeed,” he warned.

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

A runoff election between Cornyn and Paxton will take place on May 26, and the president has yet to endorse either contender.

Reports suggest a Cornyn endorsement is more likely, although Paxton has been a reliable MAGA supporter. Trump has even suggested that whichever candidate does not get his backing should quit the race entirely, clearing the way for the presumptive nominee to battle the Democratic nominee, James Talarico.

“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, on March 4, “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively!”

He vowed to make his endorsement “soon,” but has yet to do so.

Each passing day gives Talarico more time to campaign and build his war chest as the two GOP contenders spend their time and money battling each other.

READ MORE: Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

 

Image via Reuters

 

 

 

Continue Reading

News

Gas Prices Near $4 in These Five States

Published

12 hours ago

on

March 16, 2026

By

Gas prices are continuing to substantially increase, with five states now hovering near $4 a gallon and several others seeing sharp increases as President Donald Trump’s war in Iran enters its 17th day.

“Big gas price hikes just now starting to happen in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri today, which will likely push the national average to $3.75-$3.80 by mid-week,” reports Patrick De Haan, the head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.

But, he also notes that Michigan and the Chicago area are already seeing $3.99 per gallon as of Monday. Indiana drivers are seeing $3.89, and Ohio and Kentucky are seeing $3.79 per gallon.

De Haan directly attributes the increases to the summer gasoline changeover and the ongoing Iran situation.

“The national average is up 80.0 cents from a month ago and is 66.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago,” WANE reports, citing GasBuddy’s data.

Drivers should not expect to see prices come down significantly anytime soon.

“Until we see a meaningful resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, upward pressure on fuel prices is likely to persist,” De Haan said. “At the same time, seasonal forces are beginning to intensify as several regions complete the transition to summer gasoline, creating a double headwind that could continue driving pump prices higher in the weeks ahead.”

READ MORE: Kristi Noem at Center of Push for DOJ Perjury Probe: Report

 

Image via Shutterstock

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.