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NEW CD Release! RU'IA: Sacred visions inspired by Islam

The Esoterics proudly presents RU'IA, its ninth CD recording. Titled with an Arabic word meaning "dreams" or "visions," this is the first American choral CD inspired entirely by Islamic scripture and poetry. The centerpiece of this recording is a 50-minute a cappella choral dreamscape by The Esoterics' founder Eric Banks entitled Twelve Qur'anic visions, accompanied by works by Bern Herbolsheimer, Hussein Janmohamed, and Ton de Leeuw. The Esoterics invites you to experience the music of RU'IA and the fresh perspectives it brings to choral music and the ancient religion of Islam. Read more.



The Esoterics is awarded another NEA grant for new commissions

The Esoterics is pleased to announce that it has received another grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund four commissions by prominent contemporary choral composers.
  • For The Esoterics' February concert series, VOTIVITA, New York composer Martha Sullivan will set five odes from Edmund Spenser's epic poem Epithalamion. With text inspired by the marriage vow, the piece will be the highlight of the love-themed concerts, which will occur in during the week of Valentine's Day.
  • Bay Area composer Paul Crabtree will provide The Esoterics with a piece for their concert MEMORIAM. The composer has selected text from the end of Simon Armitage's epic poem, Killing time, in which the tragic violence of the 1999 Columbine shootings is transformed into a profound act of kindness.
  • The Esoterics' Founding Director Eric Banks will set a cycle of poems by the Alexandrian poet Constantine Cavafy with the title The shadows of love. Interweaving strains of Arabic melody with verses of Greek poetry, his work will be performed by Ædonis in the The Esoterics' August concert series, SUSCITA.
  • Donald Skirvin will be the fourth composer funded by the NEA grant. For the concert series MYSTERIUM in October, Skirvin will provide his longest choral work to date: an eight-movement epic piece entitled Stars forever, while we sleep, based on text by American poet Sara Teasdale.
All four of these works will be premiered during The Esoterics' 2009 season, and all of the composers will be in attendance.



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The Esoterics announces 2008-2009 POLYPHONOS Competition winners

The Esoterics is pleased to announce the winners its 2008-2009 POLYPHONOS choral composition competition. Now in its third year, the competition inspired 128 entries from all over the world and the pool of applicants was particularly strong this year. Each awardee will receive a US$1,000 commission for a 5-minute new work that The Esoterics will premiere during their 2009 concert season. Read more.

The Esoterics

The Esoterics' 2008 season
is sponsored by generous grants from

  • 4 Culture
  • ArtsFund
  • Artist Trust
  • Classical King FM 98.1
  • The Horizons Foundation
  • Meet the Composer
  • Nikko Media Center
  • The Norcliffe Foundation
  • The Nesholm Family Foundation
  • The National Endowment for the Arts
  • The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
  • The Seattle Foundation
  • Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
  • The Washington State Arts Commission

The Esoterics
4523A 40th Ave SW
Seattle WA 98116
206-935-7779
info@TheEsoterics.org