Classical Californians: Adam Karelin

Adam Karelin

Our Classical Californian this week is Adam Karelin, the Executive and Artistic Director of the Riverside Arts Academy. He’s also a composer and conductor – he’ll introduce works by some of his favorite composers, including Valentyn Silvestrov and Dmitri Shostakovich, and a movement from his oratorio, Forget Your Past. There’s also a choral setting of “Agnus Dei” by Ernesto Herrera and some musical risk-taking from violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and friends. 

He begins with a piece by a faculty member of the Riverside Arts Academy, Ernesto Herrera, and his setting of the "Agnus Dei" text.

Then it's Valentyn Silvestrov's "Prayer for Ukraine" from his Maidan 2014 cycle.

The powerful choral Symphony No. 13 by Dmitri Shostakovich includes a setting in the first movement of the poem "Babi Yar" by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

Both Silvestrov and Shostakovich inspired him when Adam Karelin wrote his oratorio called Forget Your Past. Here's a movement called "Prayer" from that work.

Then there are two selections featuring the iconoclastic violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja - first playing the third movement of Bela Bartok's Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano.

And finally, the chaotic but joyous celebration of Serban Nichifor's "Klezmer Dance".