Composing Solitude in the Crucible of Modernity

Composing music is usually considered a solitary profession, but modernity presents its own unique challenges of existential loneliness for the artist. 

The possibility of meteoric stardom perennially tempts one to trade authentic expression for superficial glamour. 

An increasing lack of genuine human interactions occurs within the backdrop of materialistic alienation from a once-sacred cosmos. 

Immense suffering in the world surrounded by a suffocating nihilism – all of these factors combine to produce disillusionment with beauty and threaten to extinguish the truly creative act.

This lecture-recital shares the lives and works of four influential, groundbreaking composers ­– Liszt, Mompou, Górecki, and Pärt – each of whom responded to their modern conditions in transformative ways. 

Stepping back from the limelight and rejecting popular trends, they sought a more profound music. Not only did they find new harmonic languages, but through their attentive contemplations and receptive listening, they rediscovered the divine givenness of sound and the rebirth of their own humanity. 

The fruits of their labors have touched millions of lives, providing consolation, hope, and meaningful communion .

Ming Wilson, Piano

Bette Zhaoyi Yan, Soprano

Jessica Miskelly, Violin