GRAMMY® Winners Apollo’s Fire & Jeannette Sorrell present
O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths
Next tour: April 2025
Cleveland – Chicago – New York City – London
Jeannette Sorrell, program design & direction
“An ensemble at the peak of their powers, making vital statements about the world…”
Seen & Heard International
Performed to full houses in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Chicago, and Cleveland, “O Jerusalem!” is a colorful and uplifting program for our time.
Honoring the peoples whose music and faith brought such vibrancy to the Middle East, this acclaimed program from Jeannette Sorrell is a musical tour of the four quarters of Old Jerusalem (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Armenian). Surprising cross-influences emerge, as a Sephardic ballad leads to a classical Arabic love song, and selections from Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 echo the exotic and rapturous singing of the Jewish cantors in the temples. Twenty-six artists from Jewish, Palestinian, and Christian backgrounds perform on oud, theorbo, medieval harp, zither, strings, and percussion in a joyous celebration of shared humanity.
Reviews
“’O Jerusalem!’ was a sensory feast, a joyous celebration…”
– ClevelandClassical.com, 2020 [Read more]
“Theatrical dynamism… a fun and flirtatious triumph… The program showed Apollo’s Fire energetic and compelling as ever. One can only hope that the world’s health crisis will run its course quickly so that we can return these vital musicians to their needed role of illuminating the social and emotional connections of all humanity.“
– Seen & Heard International, UK, 2020 [Read more]
“On period instruments, a voyage of faith for the 21st century… Apollo’s Fire continues to challenge and enchant. The result borders upon a theatrical experience…. In classic Apollo’s Fire manner, the entire evening was delivered with urgency, polish, and flair. To hear an ensemble at the peak of their powers, making vital statements about the world, is a privilege.”
– Seen & Heard International, 2018 [Read more]
“Captivating… a ravishing musical landscape. A high level of artistry and passionate music-making… gorgeous and stylish. The concert flowed wonderfully from one musical universe to another… creating a communal atmosphere of celebration and worship. Sorrell should be proud of this enjoyable and unity-striving evening in a time when human divisions are regularly stoked to achieve dangerous ends.”
– ClevelandClassical.com [Read more]
Listen to tracks from the CD!
“Brims with energy and imagination… The disc is the brainchild of Jeannette Sorrell, who directs the celebrated period ensemble Apollo’s Fire…. A highly atmospheric ‘tour’ of the city, with each quarter explored via a handful of intersecting musical vignettes. Sorrell combines the excellent Apollo’s Fire with outstanding guest artists…. a mesmerising improvisation on the oud by Palestinian musician Ronnie Malley. Toward the end of the disc, radiant excerpts of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 burst forth from the choir as a nod to the influence of Jewish and Arabic sacred chanting on the late Renaissance composer’s music. Programmed with real vision and beautifully performed, this is a mesmerising portrait of Old Jerusalem reimagined through sound.”
– BBC Music Magazine, 2022
“Gripping immediacy… listen also for the mesmeric percussion in the table-grace song Tzur mishelo achalnu (‘The Lord our rock’). … makes this recording shimmer. In the section ‘Mosque, Cathedral & Synagogue’, the positioning of the ‘Gloria Patri’ from Monteverdi’s Vespers is particularly prescient: intertwining chants run like a thread through this section. In short, a timely, sumptuous and refreshing vision of peace for 2022.”
– Gramophone Magazine, 2022
