Syrian-Armenian artist joins LA Master Chorale for a unique project

PanARMENIAN.Net - A new production of Handel’s “Israel in Egypt” by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Syrian-Armenian artist Kevork Mourad will present the oratorio’s story of human diaspora through a contemporary lens on February 11.

The one-night-only performance will be conducted by Grant Gershon, the Master Chorale’s Kiki and David Gindler Artistic Director, and feature 80 singers and 7 soloists. In addition to creating animated projections for Walt Disney Concert Hall for the performance, Mourad will be on stage, creating his paintings in real-time to be projected as he draws them.

When creating his paintings on stage, Mourad uses a small bottle of ink that he squeezes onto the page and smears with a lightning-fast technique, the results having a calligraphic quality, allowing Mourad to create a massive amount of art in a brief period of time.

It is a technique Mourad honed with "Home Within", an acclaimed audio-visual work he co-created with Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh.

Home Within is the pair’s “impressionistic reflection on the Syrian revolution and its aftermath” that has been performed in North America and Europe including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.