Symphony of Three:
Peace – Love – Tolerance

The Abrahamic Symphony
Peace · Love · Tolerance

Commissioned and Produced by Abu Dhabi Festival

Produced by Robert Townson, Ihab Darwish, Zofia Jeziorna, Huda Al-Khamis Kanoo

Orchestra: Beethoven Academy Orchestra with Elham Al Marzooqi as special guest artist (cello, UAE)

Conducted by Diego Navarro

Recording Engineer: Dennis Sands, Sound Waves SB, Santa Barbara.

Location Engineer: Łukasz Kurzawski

Recorded at Cavatina Hall, Bielsko-Biała, Poland. March 28, 29 and 30, 2022

Symphony of Three:
Peace – Love – Tolerance

Commissioned and Produced by Abu Dhabi Festival

Produced by Robert Townson, Ihab Darwish, Zofia Jeziorna, Huda Al-Khamis Kanoo

Orchestra: Beethoven Academy Orchestra with Elham Al Marzooqi as special guest artist (cello, UAE)

Conducted by Diego Navarro

Recording Engineer: Dennis Sands, Sound Waves SB, Santa Barbara.

Location Engineer: Łukasz Kurzawski

Recorded at Cavatina Hall, Bielsko-Biała, Poland. March 28, 29 and 30, 2022

Tracklist

1. EARTH

Composed by Ihab Darwish

Lyrics by Lebo M

2. PEACE

Composed by David Shire

Text compiled by: Rabbi William Cutter, Phd, and David Shire

i. And They Shall Beat Their Swords, Traditional

ii. Jerusalem by Yehuda Amichai

iii. We Shall Be As Dreamers Again by Herbert Levine

iv. My Child Smells of Peace by Yehuda Amichai

v. Everlasting Light Violin Concertina

vi. I, May I Rest In Peace by Yehuda Amichai

vii. Hinei Ma Tov Variations, Traditional

viii. The Light of Peace by David Shire

ix. Everlasting Light by Sheldon Harnick

3. LOVE

Composed by John Debney

Text Traditional

Hymn to The Father, poem by John Donne

4. TOLERANCE

Composed by Ihab Darwish

Text compiled by Mahmoud El-Tohamy

Wuleda Al Huda Fal Kaenatu Diyaa, poem by Ahmed Shawqi

Asbahtu Kabilan Kul Soraten poem by Mohyi El Deen Bin Arabi

Lyrics Iqraa Ya Nabiya Allah by Mahmoud El-Tohamy

Credits

Mixed by Dennis Sands and Stoyan Stoyanov
Edited by Adam Olmstead
Mastered by Scott Sedillo, Bernie Grundman Mastering

Music Preparation: Matthew Voogt, JoAnn Kane Music Services
Business Affairs for Robert Townson Productions: Lisa Margolis
Business Affairs for Artwish Music and Events: Cameron Crawford, Fiona Robertson

Liner Notes by Robert Townson
Art Director: Ihab Darwish
Album Cover Design: Elygraf
Booklet Design: Ihab Darwish
Logo Design: Hamed Khan Haidari

Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus (80 voices)
Choir Director: Gregory Batsleer
Recorded by Hedd Morfett-Jones
Recorded at Scotland’s Studio, Glasgow, Scotland. April 30, 2022

Antonine University Choir, Lebanon (28 voices)
Choir Director: Toufic Maatouk
Recorded by Ralph Sleiman
Recorded at Studio Ralph Suleiman, Beirut, Lebanon. July 19-25, 2022

EARTH

Composed by Ihab Darwish
Lyrics by Lebo M

Vocal: Lebo M
Recorded by Thando Magwaza
Recorded at Howard Audio. Bryanston, South Africa. February 23, 2022.

Soprano: Sumi Jo
Recorded by Jin Choi
Recorded at Studio Sempre La Musica Seoul, South Korea. August 13, 2022.

Bass Flute, Flute: Sara Andon
Recorded by Gabe Burch at Sara Andon Studio. Los Angeles, USA. April 20, 2022.
Cello: Tina Guo
Recorded by Tina Guo at Tina Guo Studio. Los Angeles, USA. July 6, 2022.

Duduk: Pedro Eustache
Recorded by Pedro Eustache at Pedro Eustache Studio. Los Angeles, USA. May 6 and 7, 2022.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus
Lebo’s South African Choir (30 voices)
Recorded by Thando Magwaza
Recorded at Howard Audio. Bryanston, South Africa. February 23, 2022.
Antonine University Choir

Very special thanks to Gehad Darwish & Zofia Jeziorna

PEACE

Composed by David Shire
Text compiled by Rabbi William Cutter, Phd, and David Shire
Orchestrated by David Shire and Martin Erskine

i.And They Shall Beat Their Swords, Traditional

ii. Jerusalem, poem by Yehuda Amichai
Bass: Richard Bernstein, Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera
Mezzo Soprano: Olivia Vote, Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera
Recorded by M.P. Kuo at John Kilgore Sound and Recording. New York City. April 20, 2022.
Alto Flute: Sara Andon
Qanun: Aytaç Doğan
Recorded by Volkan Akyuz at Sir Muszik, Turkey, SItanbul. April 20, 2022

iii. We Shall Be As Dreamers Again, lyrics poem by From “All in the Family”
in Words for Blessing the World (2017) by Herbert J. Levine
Oud: Sadiq Jaafar
Recorded by Stoyan Stoyanov, at VST Studio, Dubai, UAE. May 15, 2022

iv. My Child Smells of Peace, poem by Yehuda Amichai
Soprano: Sumi Jo
Trans. Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld

v. Everlasting Light Violin Concertina
Violin: Melissa White
Recorded by Andros Rodriguez at Quad Recording Studios, New York City. August 7, 2022

vi. I, May I Rest In Peace, poem by Yehuda Amichai
Tenor: Brenton Ryan, Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera
Recorded by M.P. Kuo at John Kilgore Sound and Recording. New York City. April 20, 2022.
Trans. Chana Bloch and Chana Kronfeld

vii. Hinei Ma Tov Variations, Traditional
Flute: Sara Andon
Violin: Melissa White
Harp: Lavinia Meijer
Recorded by Arthur Theunissen at Studio Cube, Rossum, Netherlands
Guitar: Carlos Piñana
Recorded by Pedro Contreras at Pedro Contreras Studio, Murcia, Spain. April 9, 2022.

viii. The Light of Peace, lyrics by David Shire
Bass: Richard Bernstein, Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera

ix. Everlasting Light, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Chamber Choir (32 voices)
Jerusalem Knights Choir (20 voices)
Choir director: Micah Handler
Recorded by Zvika Hirshler and Shifra Jacobs at Jerusalem Music Center, Jerusalem Tolerance Coalition Workspace,
Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine. March 23, May 1, July 26, 27, 31, 2022.
Antonine University Choir

LOVE

Composed by John Debney
Text Traditional
Hymn to The Father poem by John Donne
Orchestrated by Mike Watts

Narrator: Sir Derek Jacobi
Recorded by Nick Taylor at Air-Edel Recording Studios, London. June 27, 2022.
Special thanks to Richard Clifford and Maggie Rodford

Vocal: Lisbeth Scott
Recorded by Lisbeth Scott at Lisbeth Scott Studio. Los Angeles, USA. May 3 and 4, 2022.

Duduk and Flute: Pedro Eustache

Cello: Santiago Cañón-Valencia
Recorded by Santiago Cañón Valencia at Santiago Cañón-Valencia Studio, Bogota, Colombia. July 31, 2022.

Violin: Melissa White

Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Chamber Choir
Jerusalem Knights Choir
Antonine University Choir

Dedicated to the memory of Sid Padilla
Very special thanks and love to Lola Debney

TOLERANCE

Composed by Ihab Darwish
Text compiled by Mahmoud El-Tohamy
Wuleda Al Huda Fal Kaenatu Diyaa, poem by Ahmed Shawqi
Asbahtu Kabilan Kul Soraten poem by Mohyi El Deen Bin Arabi
Lyrics Iqraa Ya Nabiya Allah by Mahmoud El-Tohamy
Orchestrated by Ihab Darwish and Stoyan Stoyanov
Oriental Percussions by Mohamed Asfour

Vocal: Mohmoud El-Tohamy
Recorded by Dr. Khaled Mohseb at Fonoun Studios, Cairo, Egypt. March 7, 2022.

Soprano: Sumi Jo

Flute: Sara Andon

Piano: Simone Pedroni
Recorded by Elisa Petrarulo at Simone Pedroni Studio. Navarro, Italy. April 20, 2022.

Trumpet: Wayne Bergeron
Recorded by Wayne Bergeron at Wayne Bergeron Studio. Los Angeles, USA. April 13, 2022.

Cello: Santiago Cañón-Valencia
Recorded by Santiago Cañón-Valencia at Santiago Cañón-Valencia Studio, Bogota, Colombia. August 1, 2022.

Violin: Melissa White

Duduk: Pedro Eustache

Harp: Lavinia Meijer

Qanun: Aytaç Doğan

Nay: Ibrahim Fathi
Recorded by Mohamed Asfour, at AlAyam Artistic Production and Media Services, Abu Dhabi, UAE. March 15, 2022.
Recorded by Stoyan Stoyanov, at VST Studio, Dubai, UAE. May 15, 2022.

Oud: Sadiq Jaafar
Recorded by Mohamed Asfour, at AlAyam Artistic Production and Media Services, Abu Dhabi, UAE. March 15, 2022.
Recorded by Stoyan Stoyanov, at VST Studio, Dubai, UAE. May 15, 2022.

Guitar: Carlos Piñana

Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus
Jerusalem Knights Choir
Antonine University Choir

Tohamy’s Elite School Chorus (60 voices)
Choir Director: Mahmoud El-Tohamy
Recorded by Dr. Khaled Mohseb at Fonoun Studios, Cairo, Egypt. March 7, 2022.

Jordanian Oriental Percussionists
Recorded by Murad Demirjian, Amman, Jordan. March 29, 2022.

Very special thanks to Gehad Darwish & Zofia Jeziorna

Managed and Executed by Artwish Music & Events
In Collaboration with Robert Townson Productions
Released by Universal Music Mena

The Abrahamic Symphony: Peace · Love · Tolerance
by Robert Townson

Having produced nearly 1500 albums now, I think it really says something that I consider The Abrahamic Symphony to be the most epic project of my career. It excels in not only scale but in meaning, beyond all else. It was an extraordinary honor to have Artwish Music and Events invite me on board as Artistic Director of the symphony, along with Ihab Darwish, and to co-produce this Abu Dhabi Festival 2022 world premiere recording, with Ihab and Zofia Jeziorna. Prior to even my involvement, the concept of the entire piece began with Zofia, who is the producer at Artwish and Ihab Darwish’s manager. She proposed a symphony created by three composers from three different religions, inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity in 2019 and the grand opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. The initiative is driven by her deeply humanistic mission to spread dialogue and greater understanding between worshippers of the three religions whose patriarch was Abraham. Ihab’s brother Gehad Darwish also consulted during this stage. The concept was further honed by Ihab as he translated it into reality, he came up with the message of the piece and the individual movements of                  Peace, Love and Tolerance. Additionally, he developed the artistic structure, including full orchestra, choirs, instrumentalists, and solo singers. Ihab presented the project to the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and secured their commission to produce the symphony.

From these seeds, our glorious symphony grew. All would ultimately come together in a work of ninety-one minutes, inspired by the three Abrahamic religions, the first of its kind in the history of music. The symphony featured the participation of an orchestra of          67 musicians, 6 choirs of 250 vocalists, 12 instrumental soloists, 6 singers, and 5 poets, in 24 recording studios around the world, from 19 cities in 17 countries.

The very concept of what I was asked to co-create with Ihab and Zofia was so moving and inspirational. In short, the piece would be the world’s first interfaith symphony. But the meaning of the work, the story behind what led to the work, and the story about its creation, was so much greater still. The aspirational goals of the new piece were noble, exalted and even sublime, but would be undertaken with the humility of artistic creation. The summary, however, was quite soaring… Darwish and Jeziorna wrote:

To mark this magnificent UAE achievement and religious celebration that unites the world, we would like to propose a symphony dedicated to the holy place and peaceful future for all mankind. The music shall be composed by top international composers, merging the interfaith background/approaches. We would like to invite a Christian, a Jewish and a Muslim composer to write together a musical piece named “The Abrahamic Symphony” inspired by the Abrahamic Family House and UAE’s belief in tolerance and hospitality.

We believe that music is a very powerful and unifying language. A universal medium which speaks to everyone across all borders. It can bring peace in people’s hearts and minds as it overcomes linguistic barriers. Music builds bridges that connect people from different parts of the globe and a common appreciation of cultural diversity. It is a great tool to spread messages of peace, tolerance, and shared humanity.

We are confident that such a project and the music can meet and represent the values behind the Abrahamic Family House:    “to be a beacon of mutual understanding, harmonious coexistence, and peace among people of faith and good will”.

The primary inspiration behind the symphony would also be shared with The Abrahamic Family House itself. In the words of its            award-winning architect Sir David Adjaye:

“As an architect I want to create a building that starts to dissolve the notion of hierarchical difference – it should represent universality and totality – something higher, that enhances the richness of human life.”– David Adjaye

As expressed above, it was a beautiful message and we couldn’t wait to share the idea of the project through all of these words, first with the composers and later with musician soloists, who we would be reaching out to across the globe. Ultimately, we would be inviting recording artists in 17 different countries to join our musical team, or family.

First, we needed the composers. As well as a structure for the piece. From the beginning it had been clear that there would be three primary movements of the new piece … one each for the synagogue, the church, and the mosque. Though there had been talk of an introductory as well as a concluding movement, this finally coalesced into adding a single prologue movement to be called Earth and would be composed by Ihab Darwish, the Abu Dhabi composer who would also be composing the finale movement Tolerance, for the mosque. The idea behind Earth would be that it represented the Earth, before the dawn of the Abrahamic religions.

To compose for the synagogue, I approached a dear old friend. David Shire is both a legendary film composer and has another equally successful career on Broadway as writer of hit musicals. All of this contributed to my feeling that he was perfect for                              The Abrahamic Symphony and representing Judaism.

Ihab had decided very early on that we wanted a prominent role for voice in each composer’s piece. We were considering it a choral symphony, but it would also feature vocal soloists in each movement. David took that even a step further and considered his segment a cantata.

To compose for the Church, I invited my great friend John Debney. John and I have worked together extensively in the past on many film score soundtrack projects, album recordings and live concerts. He is an extraordinary composer capable of writing in any style, but I must be honest in admitting that it was John’s score for The Passion of The Christ which convinced me particularly, beyond any doubt, that he should be our composer for Christianity.

The final movement for the Mosque belonged to and written by Emirati composer Ihab Darwish. Zofia Jeziorna first connected Ihab and I virtually while I was fulfilling a minor role in his 2021 Abu Dhabi Festival piece Hekayat: Symphonic Tales. I was thrilled at the time to have encountered such a talented and visionary composer from a part of the world I was so much less familiar with. Ihab has to his credit also Waves of My Life album and several musical projects done in cooperation with UAE governmental entities. Darwish’s music speaks beyond its discipline and beyond a local context. He is also the first Emirati voting member at the Grammy Recording Academy.

This Abrahamic Symphony, however, would be reaching beyond anything that any of us had created in the past. It was Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and Abu Dhabi Festival’s founder, H.E. HudaI.Alkhamis-Kanoo, her support and her faith in all of us, which made this new work possible. Mrs. Kanoo is an enormous champion of Emirati artists, but she is also a world figure, whose stature only continues to grow.

This was the point in the project where Abu Dhabi Festival invited me to make my first trip to Abu Dhabi in order to be part of the festival’s press conference and make the first official announcement of this new work we would be creating. The whole trip was a beautiful, moving and very inspiring experience.

Putting it all into words for the press conference, I realized that this symphony would be introducing both David Shire and                   John Debney’s music to new audiences in the East, and will also present Ihab Darwish’s music to wider audiences in Europe and the Americas. I was so excited for all three of them. Even in this way, the symphony would be achieving a wonderful result.

Though we wanted to reach so very much further. Each of the composers were also encouraged to write featured parts for special soloists, which would give us the opportunity of broadening considerably our international reach.

First in place was the Beethoven Academy Orchestra from Poland, who would be conducted by the great Canarian maestro              Diego Navarro. Diego and I have been collaborating on concerts around the world for 15 years now. And each of us knew the  Beethoven Academy Orchestra well from our long relationship with FMF Krakow, which could be considered the biggest film music festival in the world. In 2018 Zofia connected Ihab with the Orchestra to record and perform his first album “Waves of My Life” and           “Hekayat: Symphonic Tales in 2021 during Abu Dhabi Festival. At Ihab Darwish’s special invitation, Elham Al Marzooqi, the first female Emirati cellist also joined orchestra to record and perform tutti.

Ihab conceived a magical musical conversation for three Los Angeles-based musician colleagues – bass flute (Sara Andon),               cello (Tina Guo) and Duduk (Pedro Eustache) – to feature in Earth.

David Shire would identify early that in his movement Peace he would also be composing for American flute virtuoso Sara Andon, and would additionally have a featured part for violin, plus smaller solo parts for harp (Lavinia Meijer), guitar (Carlos Piñana) as well as vocal parts for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass. Once these positions were cast, we had three singers courtesy of the New York City Metropolitan Opera: mezzo Oliva Vote, tenor Brenton Ryan and bass Richard Bernstein. Our soprano came to us from South Korea and would be the acclaimed and award-winning Sumi Jo, who is also an UNESCO Artist for Peace. The violin soloist for David’s movement, as well as both John Debney Ihab Darwish’s pieces would be New York soloist Melissa White.

For John Debney’s movement Love, he knew immediately that he wanted to reunite with two of the soloists who were previously featured on his The Passion of The Christ … vocalist Lisbeth Scott and Duduk player Pedro Eustache, who would just be returning from a long tour with Hans Zimmer. Both were thrilled to again record for John. John also wrote a major cello solo part, which would ultimately be played by the remarkable Colombian-born cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia. A famous voice will be heard very early in John’s piece as he incorporated some narration text into his music. To record these selected biblical passages, I invited the legendary British actor      Sir Derek Jacobi, who joined us with great enthusiasm.

Our international cast continued to grow. While Ihab Darwish’s Tolerance piece would also take advantage of some of the soloists who had been contracted for other movements, such as flutist Sara Andon, Violinist Melissa White, cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia and Pedro Eustache’s duduk, this movement for Islam would involve the most eclectic and global assembly of musicians of any of the three previous. Darwish added Cliburn gold-medalist Simone Pedroni, from Italy and trumpet master Wayne Bergeron, fresh from                Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, recording from Los Angeles. Reaching further still, Ihab would connect our new symphony to performers from his own region, such as the legendary Turkish Qanun virtuoso Aytaç Doğan, Egyptian Ney player Ibrahim Fathi, who brought his rare Kawala Ney to the symphony, Iraqi Oud performer Sadiq Jaafar and elite Oriental Percussionists from Jordan.    Darwish’s featured unique prayer voice in his Tolerance movement would be Egyptian Mahmoud El-Tohamy who had adapted both traditional texts as well as poems by Ahmed Shawqi and Mohyi El Deen Bin Arabi. El-Tohamy also involved his Elite School Chorus and wrote an original lyric for Iqraa Ya Nabiya Allah.

Each of the composers fully embraced the concept of a choral symphony. For the opening prologue I connected Ihab with one of the most iconic voices in the world, to both create a special lyric and share his unmistakable voice. Lebo M is known the world over for the vocal call which opened the song Circle of Life in The Lion King. Lebo’s own voice is joined by both his adult and children’s choir from South Africa as well as the RSNO Chorus and Lebanon’s Antonine University Choir.

In addition to his vocal quartet of soloists, David Shire would also compose for the vocal forces of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Chamber Choir, Jerusalem Knights Choir and the Antonine University Choir. To identify the texts he would incorporate into his work, David consulted with his longtime friend Rabbi William Cutter, and the result of this would be a decision to focus on the poems of the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Three of David’s nine sub-movements would be settings of Amichai’s writing. For David’s penultimate The Light of Peace, the multi-talented composer would write his own lyric. But for the finale of his piece, we had a historic reunion between David and an old colleague of his, the legendary author of all lyrics for Fiddler on The Roof, the 97-year-old (now 98!) Sheldon Harnick! Sheldon contributed the lyrics for David’s magnificent Everlasting Light.

John Debney’s piece uses the same four choirs as the Shire, in addition to his unique soloists, and drew his text from Greek and Aramaic editions of traditional biblical verse. But for John’s finale Hymn To The Father, his text came from English poet John Donne’s 17th Century poem.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Jerusalem Knights Choir and the Antonine University Choir were also part of        Darwish’s Tolerance.

The scope of this work is immense, but it is also intimate and personal. I love the way the piece really allowed the composers to look deeply within themselves to find the inspiration for the music. These are very individual works by utterly unique composers, with different backgrounds, influences, musical styles and life experiences, to mention just a few of the things that define each of them.    Yet, when the pieces are listened to or played together, they somehow form a unified chorus. I feel they belong together and really do sing a song of unity and coexistence. I think they reach us and raise us all, spiritually.

Representing Canada in this humble offering of our own celebration of Peace, Love and Tolerance, I could not be prouder to               have been part of this touching and historic project. As we look to the future and dedicate this symphony to the values behind                  The Abrahamic Family House, we each hold our own hopes and wishes for this piece. My hope is that this work, its music and its message, will find its way to performances in the great concert halls of the world. I have to believe that the feelings generated in the heart and soul of each person who hears it, can only be a force for good. If we can contribute to that, to any degree, our work and this piece will have succeeded. And for that, from any religious or secular position any of us may occupy, we can all pray.

Having produced nearly 1500 albums now, I think it really says something that I consider The Abrahamic Symphony to be the most epic project of my career. It excels in not only scale but in meaning, beyond all else. It was an extraordinary honor to have Artwish Music and Events invite me on board as Artistic Director of the symphony, along with Ihab Darwish, and to co-produce this    Abu Dhabi Festival 2022 world premiere recording, with Ihab and Zofia Jeziorna. Prior to even my involvement, the concept of the entire piece began with Zofia, who is the producer at Artwish and Ihab Darwish’s manager. She proposed a symphony created by three composers from three different religions, inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity in 2019 and the grand opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. The initiative is driven by her deeply humanistic mission to spread dialogue and greater understanding between worshippers of the three religions whose patriarch was Abraham. Ihab’s brother Gehad Darwish also consulted during this stage. The concept was further honed by Ihab as he translated it into reality, he came up with the message of the piece and the individual movements of Peace, Love and Tolerance. Additionally, he developed the artistic structure, including full orchestra, choirs, instrumentalists, and solo singers. Ihab presented the project to the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and secured their commission to produce the symphony.

From these seeds, our glorious symphony grew. All would ultimately come together in a work of ninety-one minutes, inspired by the three Abrahamic religions, the first of its kind in the history of music. The symphony featured the participation of an orchestra of 67 musicians, 6 choirs of 250 vocalists, 12 instrumental soloists, 6 singers, and 5 poets, in 24 recording studios around the world, from 19 cities in 17 countries.

The very concept of what I was asked to co-create with Ihab and Zofia was so moving and inspirational. In short, the piece would be the world’s first interfaith symphony. But the meaning of the work, the story behind what led to the work, and the story about its creation, was so much greater still. The aspirational goals of the new piece were noble, exalted and even sublime, but would be undertaken with the humility of artistic creation. The summary, however, was quite soaring… Darwish and Jeziorna wrote:

To mark this magnificent UAE achievement and religious celebration that unites the world, we would like to propose a symphony dedicated to the holy place and peaceful future for all mankind. The music shall be composed by top international composers, merging the interfaith background/approaches. We would like to invite a Christian, a Jewish and a Muslim composer to write together a musical piece named “The Abrahamic Symphony” inspired by the Abrahamic Family House and UAE’s belief in tolerance and hospitality.

We believe that music is a very powerful and unifying language. A universal medium which speaks to everyone across all borders. It can bring peace in people’s hearts and minds as it overcomes linguistic barriers. Music builds bridges that connect people from different parts of the globe and a common appreciation of cultural diversity. It is a great tool to spread messages of peace, tolerance, and shared humanity.

We are confident that such a project and the music can meet and represent the values behind the Abrahamic Family House: “to be a beacon of mutual understanding, harmonious coexistence, and peace among people of faith and good will”.

The primary inspiration behind the symphony would also be shared with The Abrahamic Family House itself. In the words of its award-winning architect Sir David Adjaye:

“As an architect I want to create a building that starts to dissolve the notion of hierarchical difference – it should represent universality and totality – something higher, that enhances the richness of human life.”– David Adjaye

As expressed above, it was a beautiful message and we couldn’t wait to share the idea of the project through all of these words, first with the composers and later with musician soloists, who we would be reaching out to across the globe. Ultimately, we would be inviting recording artists in 17 different countries to join our musical team, or family.

First, we needed the composers. As well as a structure for the piece. From the beginning it had been clear that there would be three primary movements of the new piece … one each for the synagogue, the church, and the mosque. Though there had been talk of an introductory as well as a concluding movement, this finally coalesced into adding a single prologue movement to be called Earth and would be composed by Ihab Darwish, the Abu Dhabi composer who would also be composing the finale movement Tolerance, for the mosque. The idea behind Earth would be that it represented the Earth, before the dawn of the Abrahamic religions.

To compose for the synagogue, I approached a dear old friend. David Shire is both a legendary film composer and has another equally successful career on Broadway as writer of hit musicals. All of this contributed to my feeling that he was perfect for The Abrahamic Symphony and representing Judaism.

Ihab had decided very early on that we wanted a prominent role for voice in each composer’s piece. We were considering it a choral symphony, but it would also feature vocal soloists in each movement. David took that even a step further and considered his segment a cantata.

To compose for the Church, I invited my great friend John Debney. John and I have worked together extensively in the past on many film score soundtrack projects, album recordings and live concerts. He is an extraordinary composer capable of writing in any style, but I must be honest in admitting that it was John’s score for The Passion of The Christ which convinced me particularly, beyond any doubt, that he should be our composer for Christianity.

The final movement for the Mosque belonged to and written by Emirati composer Ihab Darwish. Zofia Jeziorna first connected Ihab and I virtually while I was fulfilling a minor role in his 2021 Abu Dhabi Festival piece Hekayat: Symphonic Tales. I was thrilled at the time to have encountered such a talented and visionary composer from a part of the world I was so much less familiar with. Ihab has to his credit also Waves of My Life album and several musical projects done in cooperation with UAE governmental entities. Darwish’s music speaks beyond its discipline and beyond a local context. He is also the first Emirati voting member at the Grammy Recording Academy.

This Abrahamic Symphony, however, would be reaching beyond anything that any of us had created in the past. It was Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and Abu Dhabi Festival’s founder, H.E. HudaI.Alkhamis-Kanoo, her support and her faith in all of us, which made this new work possible. Mrs. Kanoo is an enormous champion of Emirati artists, but she is also a world figure, whose stature only continues to grow.

This was the point in the project where Abu Dhabi Festival invited me to make my first trip to Abu Dhabi in order to be part of the festival’s press conference and make the first official announcement of this new work we would be creating. The whole trip was a beautiful, moving and very inspiring experience.

Putting it all into words for the press conference, I realized that this symphony would be introducing both David Shire and John Debney’s music to new audiences in the East, and will also present Ihab Darwish’s music to wider audiences in Europe and the Americas. I was so excited for all three of them. Even in this way, the symphony would be achieving a wonderful result.

Though we wanted to reach so very much further. Each of the composers were also encouraged to write featured parts for special soloists, which would give us the opportunity of broadening considerably our international reach.

First in place was the Beethoven Academy Orchestra from Poland, who would be conducted by the great Canarian maestro Diego Navarro. Diego and I have been collaborating on concerts around the world for 15 years now. And each of us knew the  Beethoven Academy Orchestra well from our long relationship with FMF Krakow, which could be considered the biggest film music festival in the world. In 2018 Zofia connected Ihab with the Orchestra to record and perform his first album “Waves of My Life” and “Hekayat: Symphonic Tales in 2021 during Abu Dhabi Festival. At Ihab Darwish’s special invitation, Elham Al Marzooqi, the first female Emirati cellist also joined orchestra to record and perform tutti.

Ihab conceived a magical musical conversation for three Los Angeles-based musician colleagues – bass flute (Sara Andon), cello (Tina Guo) and Duduk (Pedro Eustache) – to feature in Earth.

David Shire would identify early that in his movement Peace he would also be composing for American flute virtuoso Sara Andon, and would additionally have a featured part for violin, plus smaller solo parts for harp (Lavinia Meijer), guitar (Carlos Piñana) as well as vocal parts for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass. Once these positions were cast, we had three singers courtesy of the New York City Metropolitan Opera: mezzo Oliva Vote, tenor Brenton Ryan and bass Richard Bernstein. Our soprano came to us from South Korea and would be the acclaimed and award-winning Sumi Jo, who is also an UNESCO Artist for Peace. The violin soloist for David’s movement, as well as both John Debney Ihab Darwish’s pieces would be New York soloist Melissa White.

For John Debney’s movement Love, he knew immediately that he wanted to reunite with two of the soloists who were previously featured on his The Passion of The Christ … vocalist Lisbeth Scott and Duduk player Pedro Eustache, who would just be returning from a long tour with Hans Zimmer. Both were thrilled to again record for John. John also wrote a major cello solo part, which would ultimately be played by the remarkable Colombian-born cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia. A famous voice will be heard very early in John’s piece as he incorporated some narration text into his music. To record these selected biblical passages, I invited the legendary British actor Sir Derek Jacobi, who joined us with great enthusiasm.

Our international cast continued to grow. While Ihab Darwish’s Tolerance piece would also take advantage of some of the soloists who had been contracted for other movements, such as flutist Sara Andon, Violinist Melissa White, cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia and Pedro Eustache’s duduk, this movement for Islam would involve the most eclectic and global assembly of musicians of any of the three previous. Darwish added Cliburn gold-medalist Simone Pedroni, from Italy and trumpet master Wayne Bergeron, fresh from Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, recording from  Los Angeles. Reaching further still, Ihab would connect our new symphony to performers from his own region, such as the legendary Turkish Qanun virtuoso Aytaç Doğan, Egyptian Ney player Ibrahim Fathi, who brought his rare Kawala Ney to the symphony, Iraqi Oud performer Sadiq Jaafar and elite Oriental Percussionists from Jordan. Darwish’s featured unique prayer voice in his Tolerance movement would be Egyptian Mahmoud El-Tohamy who had adapted both traditional texts as well as poems by Ahmed Shawqi and Mohyi El Deen Bin Arabi. El-Tohamy also involved his Elite School Chorus and wrote an original lyric for Iqraa Ya Nabiya Allah.

Each of the composers fully embraced the concept of a choral symphony. For the opening prologue I connected Ihab with one of the most iconic voices in the world, to both create a special lyric and share his unmistakable voice. Lebo M is known the world over for the vocal call which opened the song Circle of Life in The Lion King. Lebo’s own voice is joined by both his adult and children’s choir from South Africa as well as the RSNO Chorus and Lebanon’s Antonine University Choir.

In addition to his vocal quartet of soloists, David Shire would also compose for the vocal forces of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Chamber Choir, Jerusalem Knights Choir and the Antonine University Choir. To identify the texts he would incorporate into his work, David consulted with his longtime friend Rabbi William Cutter, and the result of this would be a decision to focus on the poems of the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Three of David’s nine sub-movements would be settings of Amichai’s writing. For David’s penultimate The Light of Peace, the multi-talented composer would write his own lyric. But for the finale of his piece, we had a historic reunion between David and an old colleague of his, the legendary author of all lyrics for Fiddler on The Roof, the 97-year-old (now 98!) Sheldon Harnick! Sheldon contributed the lyrics for David’s magnificent Everlasting Light.

John Debney’s piece uses the same four choirs as the Shire, in addition to his unique soloists, and drew his text from Greek and Aramaic editions of traditional biblical verse. But for John’s finale Hymn To The Father, his text came from English poet John Donne’s 17th Century poem.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Jerusalem Knights Choir and the Antonine University Choir were also part of Darwish’s Tolerance.

The scope of this work is immense, but it is also intimate and personal. I love the way the piece really allowed the composers to look deeply within themselves to find the inspiration for the music. These are very individual works by utterly unique composers, with different backgrounds, influences, musical styles and life experiences, to mention just a few of the things that define each of them. Yet, when the pieces are listened to or played together, they somehow form a unified chorus. I feel they belong together and really do sing a song of unity and coexistence. I think they reach us and raise us all, spiritually.

Representing Canada in this humble offering of our own celebration of Peace, Love and Tolerance, I could not be prouder to have been part of this touching and historic project. As we look to the future and dedicate this symphony to the values behind The Abrahamic Family House, we each hold our own hopes and wishes for this piece. My hope is that this work, its music and its message, will find its way to performances in the great concert halls of the world. I have to believe that the feelings generated in the heart and soul of each person who hears it, can only be a force for good. If we can contribute to that, to any degree, our work and this piece will have succeeded. And for that, from any religious or secular position any of us may occupy, we can all pray.

Having produced nearly 1500 albums now, I think it really says something that I consider The Abrahamic Symphony to be the most epic project of my career. It excels in not only scale but in meaning, beyond all else. It was an extraordinary honor to have Artwish Music and Events invite me on board as  Artistic Director of the symphony, along with Ihab Darwish, and to co-produce this Abu Dhabi Festival 2022 world premiere recording, with Ihab an Zofia Jeziorna. Prior to even my involvement, the concept of the entire piece began with Zofia, who is the producer at Artwish and Ihab Darwish’s manager. She proposed a symphony created by three composers from three different religions, inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity in 2019 and the grand opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. The initiative is driven by her deeply humanistic mission to spread dialogue and greater understanding between worshippers of the three religions whose patriarch was Abraham. Ihab’s brother Gehad Darwish also consulted during this stage. The concept was further honed by Ihab as he translated it into reality, he came up with the message of the piece and the individual movements of  Peace, Love and Tolerance. Additionally, he developed the artistic structure, including full orchestra, choirs, instrumentalists, and solo singers. Ihab presented the project to the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and secured their commission to produce the symphony.

From these seeds, our glorious symphony grew. All would ultimately come together in a work of ninety-one minutes, inspired by the three Abrahamic religions, the first of its kind in the history of music. The symphony featured the participation of an orchestra of 67 musicians, 6 choirs of 250 vocalists, 12 instrumental soloists, 6 singers, and 5 poets, in 24 recording studios around the world, from 19 cities in 17 countries.

The very concept of what I was asked to co-create with Ihab and Zofia was so moving and inspirational. In short, the piece would be the world’s first interfaith symphony. But the meaning of the work, the story behind what led to the work, and the story about its creation, was so much greater still. The aspirational goals of the new piece were noble, exalted and even sublime, but would be undertaken with the humility of artistic creation. The summary, however, was quite soaring… Darwish and Jeziorna wrote:

To mark this magnificent UAE achievement and religious celebration that unites the world, we would like to propose a symphony dedicated to the holy place and peaceful future for all mankind. The music shall be composed by top international composers, merging the interfaith background/approaches. We would like to invite a Christian, a Jewish and a Muslim composer to write together a musical piece named “The Abrahamic Symphony” inspired by the Abrahamic Family House and UAE’s belief in tolerance and hospitality.

We believe that music is a very powerful and unifying language. A universal medium which speaks to everyone across all borders. It can bring peace in people’s hearts and minds as it overcomes linguistic barriers. Music builds bridges that connect people from different parts of the globe and a common appreciation of cultural diversity. It is a great tool to spread messages of peace, tolerance, and shared humanity.

We are confident that such a project and the music can meet and represent the values behind the Abrahamic Family House:  “to be a beacon of mutual understanding, harmonious coexistence, and peace among people of faith and good will”.

The primary inspiration behind the symphony would also be shared with The Abrahamic Family House itself. In the words of its award-winning architect Sir David Adjaye:

“As an architect I want to create a building that starts to dissolve the notion of hierarchical difference – it should represent universality and totality – something higher, that enhances the richness of human life.”– David Adjaye

As expressed above, it was a beautiful message and we couldn’t wait to share the idea of the project through all of these words, first with the composers and later with musician soloists, who we would be reaching out to across the globe. Ultimately, we would be inviting recording artists in 17 different countries to join our musical team, or family.

First, we needed the composers. As well as a structure for the piece. From the beginning it had been clear that there would be three primary movements of the new piece … one each for the synagogue, the church, and the mosque. Though there had been talk of an introductory as well as a concluding movement, this finally coalesced into adding a single prologue movement to be called Earth and would be composed by Ihab Darwish, the Abu Dhabi composer who would also be composing the finale movement Tolerance, for the mosque. The idea behind Earth would be that it represented the Earth, before the dawn of the Abrahamic religions.

To compose for the synagogue, I approached a dear old friend. David Shire is both a legendary film composer and has another equally successful career on Broadway as writer of hit musicals. All of this contributed to my feeling that he was perfect for The Abrahamic Symphony and representing Judaism.

Ihab had decided very early on that we wanted a prominent role for voice in each composer’s piece. We were considering it a choral symphony, but it would also feature vocal soloists in each movement. David took that even a step further and considered his segment a cantata.

To compose for the Church, I invited my great friend John Debney. John and I have worked together extensively in the past on many film score soundtrack projects, album recordings and live concerts. He is an extraordinary composer capable of writing in any style, but I must be honest in admitting that it was John’s score for The Passion of The Christ which convinced me particularly, beyond any doubt, that he should be our composer for Christianity.

The final movement for the Mosque belonged to and written by Emirati composer Ihab Darwish. Zofia Jeziorna first connected Ihab and I virtually while I was fulfilling a minor role in his 2021 Abu Dhabi Festival piece Hekayat: Symphonic Tales. I was thrilled at the time to have encountered such a talented and visionary composer from a part of the world I was so much less familiar with. Ihab has to his credit also Waves of My Life album and several musical projects done in cooperation with UAE governmental entities. Darwish’s music speaks beyond its discipline and beyond a local context. He is also the first Emirati voting member at the Grammy Recording Academy.

This Abrahamic Symphony, however, would be reaching beyond anything that any of us had created in the past. It was Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation and Abu Dhabi Festival’s founder, H.E. HudaI.Alkhamis-Kanoo, her support and her faith in all of us, which made this new work possible. Mrs. Kanoo is an enormous champion of Emirati artists, but she is also a world figure, whose stature only continues to grow.

This was the point in the project where Abu Dhabi Festival invited me to make my first trip to Abu Dhabi in order to be part of the festival’s press conference and make the first official announcement of this new work we would be creating. The whole trip was a beautiful, moving and very inspiring experience.

Putting it all into words for the press conference, I realized that this symphony would be introducing both David Shire and John Debney’s music to new audiences in the East, and will also present Ihab Darwish’s music to wider audiences in Europe and the Americas. I was so excited for all three of them. Even in this way, the symphony would be achieving a wonderful result.

Though we wanted to reach so very much further. Each of the composers were also encouraged to write featured parts for special soloists, which would give us the opportunity of broadening considerably our international reach.

First in place was the Beethoven Academy Orchestra from Poland, who would be conducted by the great Canarian maestro Diego Navarro. Diego and I have been collaborating on concerts around the world for 15 years now. And each of us knew the  Beethoven Academy Orchestra well from our long relationship with FMF Krakow, which could be considered the biggest film music festival in the world. In 2018 Zofia connected Ihab with the Orchestra to record and perform his first album “Waves of My Life” and “Hekayat: Symphonic Tales in 2021 during Abu Dhabi Festival. At Ihab Darwish’s special invitation, Elham Al Marzooqi, the first female Emirati cellist also joined orchestra to record and perform tutti.

Ihab conceived a magical musical conversation for three Los Angeles-based musician colleagues – bass flute (Sara Andon),  cello (Tina Guo) and Duduk (Pedro Eustache) – to feature in Earth.

David Shire would identify early that in his movement Peace he would also be composing for American flute virtuoso Sara Andon, and would additionally have a featured part for violin, plus smaller solo parts for harp (Lavinia Meijer), guitar (Carlos Piñana) as well as vocal parts for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass. Once these positions were cast, we had three singers courtesy of the New York City Metropolitan Opera: mezzo Oliva Vote, tenor Brenton Ryan and bass Richard Bernstein. Our soprano came to us from South Korea and would be the acclaimed and award-winning    Sumi Jo, who is also an UNESCO Artist for Peace. The violin soloist for David’s movement, as well as both John Debney Ihab Darwish’s pieces would be New York soloist Melissa White.

For John Debney’s movement Love, he knew immediately that he wanted to reunite with two of the soloists who were previously featured on his The Passion of The Christ … vocalist Lisbeth Scott and Duduk player Pedro Eustache, who would just be returning from a long tour with Hans Zimmer. Both were thrilled to again record for John. John also wrote a major cello solo part, which would ultimately be played by the remarkable Colombian-born cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia. A famous voice will be heard very early in John’s piece as he incorporated some narration text into his music. To record these selected biblical passages, I invited the legendary British actor           Sir Derek Jacobi, who joined us with great enthusiasm.

Our international cast continued to grow. While Ihab Darwish’s Tolerance piece would also take advantage of some of the soloists who had been contracted for other movements, such as flutist Sara Andon, Violinist Melissa White, cellist Santiago Cañón Valencia and Pedro Eustache’s duduk, this movement for Islam would involve the most eclectic and global assembly of musicians of any of the three previous. Darwish added Cliburn gold-medalist Simone Pedroni, from Italy and trumpet master      Wayne Bergeron, fresh from Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, recording from Los Angeles. Reaching further still, Ihab would connect our new symphony to performers from his own region, such as the legendary Turkish Qanun virtuoso Aytaç Doğan, Egyptian Ney player Ibrahim Fathi, who brought his rare Kawala Ney to the symphony, Iraqi Oud performer Sadiq Jaafar and elite Oriental Percussionists from Jordan. Darwish’s featured unique prayer voice in his Tolerance movement would be Egyptian Mahmoud El-Tohamy who had adapted both traditional texts as well as poems by Ahmed Shawqi and Mohyi El Deen Bin Arabi. El-Tohamy also involved his Elite School Chorus and wrote an original lyric for Iqraa Ya Nabiya Allah.

Each of the composers fully embraced the concept of a choral symphony. For the opening prologue I connected Ihab with one of the most iconic voices in the world, to both create a special lyric and share his unmistakable voice. Lebo M is known the world over for the vocal call which opened the song Circle of Life in The Lion King. Lebo’s own voice is joined by both his adult and children’s choir from South Africa as well as the RSNO Chorus and Lebanon’s Antonine University Choir.

In addition to his vocal quartet of soloists, David Shire would also compose for the vocal forces of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Chamber Choir, Jerusalem Knights Choir and the Antonine University Choir. To identify the texts he would incorporate into his work, David consulted with his longtime friend Rabbi William Cutter, and the result of this would be a decision to focus on the poems of the late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Three of David’s nine sub-movements would be settings of Amichai’s writing. For David’s penultimate The Light of Peace, the multi-talented composer would write his own lyric. But for the finale of his piece, we had a historic reunion between David and an old colleague of his, the legendary author of all lyrics for Fiddler on The Roof, the 97-year-old (now 98!) Sheldon Harnick! Sheldon contributed the lyrics for David’s magnificent Everlasting Light.

John Debney’s piece uses the same four choirs as the Shire, in addition to his unique soloists, and drew his text from Greek and Aramaic editions of traditional biblical verse. But for John’s finale Hymn To The Father, his text came from English poet John Donne’s 17th Century poem.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Jerusalem Knights Choir and the Antonine University Choir were also part of Darwish’s Tolerance.

The scope of this work is immense, but it is also intimate and personal. I love the way the piece really allowed the composers to look deeply within themselves to find the inspiration for the music. These are very individual works by utterly unique composers, with different backgrounds, influences, musical styles and life experiences, to mention just a few of the things that define each of them.  Yet, when the pieces are listened to or played together, they somehow form a unified chorus. I feel they belong together and really do sing a song of unity and coexistence. I think they reach us and raise us all, spiritually.

Representing Canada in this humble offering of our own celebration of Peace, Love and Tolerance, I could not be prouder to  have been part of this touching and historic project. As we look to the future and dedicate this symphony to the values behind The Abrahamic Family House, we each hold our own hopes and wishes for this piece. My hope is that this work, its music and its message, will find its way to performances in the great concert halls of the world. I have to believe that the feelings generated in the heart and soul of each person who hears it, can only be a force for good. If we can contribute to that, to any degree, our work and this piece will have succeeded. And for that, from any religious or secular position any of us may occupy, we can all pray. 

Symphony of Three: Peace – Love – Tolerance
Music by David Shire, John Debney and Ihab Darwish

Robert Townson announces The Abrahamic Symphony, Abu Dhabi Festival Press Conference, November 15, 2021

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