How Simon Wynberg and the ARC Ensemble Are Recovering Music Nearly Silenced by 20th-Century Tyranny
Simon Wynberg and the ARC Ensemble.
Many classical music ensembles have only recently begun to prioritize programming works by underrepresented composers who've been unjustly lost to the sands of time. But for 20 years and counting, that's been the sole focus and mission of the ARC Ensemble and its artistic director, Simon Wynberg.
The ensemble-in-residence at Toronto's Royal Conservatory, the ARC Ensemble is among Canada's most distinguished cultural ambassadors. And since day one, its musicians and leadership have been dedicated to presenting the work of composers suppressed and marginalized under the 20th century's repressive regimes — an overwhelming mountain of music still waiting to be rediscovered.
"The thing I've taken back from all the work we've done is how much music there is to explore," Wynberg says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "All of these chamber works are there, waiting for someone with a bit of imagination — and some financial backing, too — to put these things together. There's really just a huge amount of unknown music which deserves to be incorporated."
The Grammy-nominated ARC Ensemble's latest album in its acclaimed Music in Exile series on Chandos Records shines a light on the chamber music of Alberto Hemsi, a composer and ethnomusicologist whose "whole identity was one of exile," Wynberg shares. A Sephardic Jew born in the Ottoman Empire and musically trained in Italy, Hemsi was forced into political exile multiple times throughout his lifetime. And according to Wynberg, that regular immersion in new cultures — albeit not by choice — forced Hemsi to reinvent himself as an artist, resulting in music of incredible depth and variety.
"He operated entirely outside of the European tradition. As a Sephardic Jew, he was inspired by the traditional Jewish melodies he collected, and then he infused his works with that music. So you get this astonishing new sound in a way. It's extraordinary."
In this episode, we talk more about the ARC Ensemble's unique mission and take a deeper dive into the lives of Hemsi as well as two composers recently profiled in the group's Music in Exile series: the Ukrainian nationalist Dmitri Klebanov, and Walter Kaufmann, who became a celebrated scholar of Indian classic music after fleeing to modern-day Mumbai from Nazi Germany.
Listen to Music in Exile, Vol. 5: Works by Alberto Hemsi on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you stream or download music.
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