It was such a pleasure to visit Minneapolis for the first time. The warmth of the people I met as well as the absolutely fabulous Minnesota Orchestra has left me yearning for another visit soon. “Ramal” opened a program that featured John Adams’ Gnarly Buttons and Holst’s The Planets. About Ramal, Rob Hubbard of the St. Paul Pioneer Press… read more
Ramal
Chicago Tribune review of the Grant Park Music Festival premiere of ‘Ramal’ for orchestra
It was an absolute pleasure to be in Chicago for the regional premiere of my ‘Ramal’ for orchestra which was performed by the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra under Fawzi Haimor. Despite the very stormy weather earlier in the day, the clouds cleared and approximately 4000 people attended the concert that also featured music by… read more
Donald Runnicles to give the US premiere of Ramal for orchestra @the 2016 Grand Teton Music Festival
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
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.
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.
Review of the Buenos Aires world premiere of Ramal for orchestra
A review of the world premiere of my Ramal for orchestra which was performed by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The link to the article (in Spanish) is here.