I’m very honored, grateful and excited that maestro Donald Runnicles and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra will give the premiere of my Ramal at the 2016 GTMF. Maestro Runnicles is the music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where I recently heard him direct a very powerful performance of Lohengrin, the chief conductor at the… read more
Donald Nally & Hanna Khoury discuss the role of tradition in learning and performing ‘Embroidered Verses’
Thank you to the Pew Arts & Heritage Trust for supporting the Words Adorned project which included the commissioning of my ‘Embroidered Verses’ for SATB & Arabic chamber group. Watch this insightful discussion between maestros Nally and Khoury here.
Review of Philadelphia premiere of ‘Embroidered Verses’
This past Sunday, December 5th saw the world premiere of my ‘Embroidered Verses’ for The Crossing choir, under Donald Nally, and the Al-Bustan takht ensemble. It was a very special concert that featured another new work by composer Kinan Abou-Afach and the powerful and emotive voice of Dalal Abu Amneh. David Patrick Stearns described the… read more
‘Tesserae’ for brass quintet to be premiered in Buenos Aires by the West-Eastern Divan Brass
My new work, ‘Tesserae’ for brass quintet, will be premiered on August 2nd in Buenos Aires by the West-Eastern Divan Brass quintet. The premiere will be followed by two more concerts on August 5th & 6th. Centro Islámico República Argentina / Avenida San Juan 3053. Domingo 2 de agosto a las 20:30 horas. Concierto de… read more
Pittsburgh Symphony performs Roustom’s ‘Dabke’ for string orchestra
As part of the Music for the Spirit concert series. Details here.
Review for 2/11/15 Swedish premiere of Ramal for Orchestra by Malmo Opera
In Swedish here. but google translate gives a sense that it is a positive review.
Nice review of “Hot Tea, Mint & Olives” for SSA from Choral Director Magazine
Choral Director Magazine wrote about Roustom’s “Hot Tea, Mint & Olives” for SSA & piano “The meaningful texts and stunning music are worth the effort required to successfully perform this piece.” Read the full article here.
Letter of recommendation from Daniel Barenboim for Ramal for orchestra
I’m honored to be able to share this enthusiastic letter from maestro Daniel Barenboim about Ramal for orchestra work he commissioned from me in 2013; “[Ramal] is a first class score which I highly recommend to be performed many times in the future.” View the letter here.
Malmo Opera to give Swedish premiere of Ramal in 2015
February 11, 2015 Swedish premiere of Ramal for orchestra by the Malmo Opera orchestra under maestro Ralf Kircher. Details here. Ramal was originally commissioned by Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 2014 and was premiered in Buenos Aires. Subsequent performances by maestro Barenboim and WEDO took place at the Lucerne Festival, the BBC… read more
Great review of ‘Ramal’ for orchestra from Classical Source
“Significantly more intriguing (and impressive) was Kareem Roustom’s Ramal (also from this year), a 12-minute piece that reflects on the violence in Syria… Roustom defies categorisation. Long-breathed melodies vie with radiant harmonies before a suddenly dark Mussorgskian chord clouds the sound-picture. The music has a tendency to congeal into near-consonances, without ever emerging properly into… read more
Reviews of Ramal for orchestra in the NY Times, the Observer & the Independent
There were quite a few reviews from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra tour this Summer and here the one’s from the New York Times and the London based The Observer and The Independent.
May In The Summer USA theatrical release dates and cities announced
Later this month Cherien Dabis’s warm and beautifully crafted film May In The Summer will have its USA release. Details here. You can hear some of my score for May In The Summer here.