Tariq
Al-Sabir
Schedule
Recent Highlights
Description
Swan Songs is a new evening-length immersive operatic work commissioned by Contemporaneous, created by composer Ethan Braun and librettist Vikram Devasthali, which explores the melodramatic ending in opera, the “swan song.” Absorbing all the famous endings of opera, Swan Songs follows both the story of music itself, and the legend of Ariadne escaping the labyrinth, as each try in their own way to flee from the inexorable “swan song.” Developed from the ground up through Contemporaneous: IMAGINATION,
Contemporaneous is an ensemble of 23 musicians whose mission is to bring to life the music of now. Recognized for a “ferocious, focused performance” (The New York Times) and for its “captivating and whole-hearted commitment” (I Care If You Listen), Contemporaneous performs and promotes the most exciting work of living composers through innovative concerts, commissions, recordings, and educational programs. Based in New York City and active throughout the United States, Contemporaneous has been presented by such institutions as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, PROTOTYPE Festival, Merkin Concert Hall, MATA Festival, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and Bang on a Can and has worked with such artists as David Byrne, Donnacha Dennehy, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Dawn Upshaw, and Julia Wolfe.
A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing. Watch below or on YouTube.
Tariq Al-Sabir
Dates
Biography
Composer, Vocalist, Music Director and Producer Tariq Al-Sabir has been described as a "boundless talent” by Baltimore’s City Hall and The Examiner deemed him "a rising musical mastermind". An interdisciplinary artist with a command over many styles, his early passion for music was supported by The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University with composition lessons while he went through high school at the Baltimore School for the Arts. In 2006, Tariq's first job was lending his voice as a lead vocalist to the season 4 theme song for HBO's "The Wire".
Al-Sabir, now a faculty member at The Peabody Institute and based in New York City, is a sought after creator and collaborator. He was featured on Al Jazeera America and at TEDxMidatlantic for his innovative work that creatively challenges genre exclusivity, shining a light on his work focusing on his experiences and projects centering equity in arts education for Black students Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and New York City.
In 2017, he premiered commissioned works at The Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, and Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater. He collaborated with Kambui Olujimi and the Lone Wolf Recital Corps at MoMA in short film and live performance for the exhibition Projects 107: Lone Wolf Recital Corps. He nationally and internationally premiered the roles of Richard Moss and Travis Douglass in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, an opera by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon.
In 2018 Tariq was selected to be a member of the inaugural SUITE/Space Artist residency with the legendary Mabou Mines Theater Company, where he conceived and presented a workshop version of his theatrical-multimedia song cycle #UNWANTED in their new theater at Performance Space 122. #UNWANTED premiered to the world at THE SHED in NYC among the inaugural Open Call commissions. Al-Sabir served as music director for the Off-Broadway run of Black Light created by Daniel Alexander Jones at the Public Theater and Greenwich House Theater. In Summer of 2019 Al-Sabir made his LA Philharmonic debut in the cast of Meredith Monk’s, ATLAS under the direction of Yuval Sharon. He went on to collaborate with Monk on her new evening-length performance, Indra's Net.
His first audio/visual installation, time & distance was commissioned by Columbia University's Wallach Art Gallery as part of the UPTOWN TRIENNIAL 2020 exhibit. In 2022, he collaborated with Sable Elyse Smith to create Belly of the Wail: A Score, an audio installation and performance piece included in her exhibit Beneath Tongues at the Swiss Institute.
He recently served as music director for Blood Orange, supporting Harry Styles for all 15 sold out nights of his Love on Tour residency at Madison Square Garden.
He has collaborated with artists such as Sable Elyse Smith, Meredith Monk, Dev Hynes, Claire Chase, Gladys Knight, Caroline Polachek, Billy Ocean, Meshell Ndegeocello, Toni Blackman, Hilary Hahn, Kambui Olujimi, Barry Eastmond, Carl Hancock Rux, Andy Williams, Sandi Patti, Rance Allen, and Maurette Brown Clark. Learn more at www.tariqalsabir.com
Gallery
