Seare Farhat
“There has never been a better time to connect listeners and young artists to new music than now -- the physical distance we're experience has, in so many ways, inspired more emotional connection and compassion throughout the globe. To me, that is what music is all about. I think it is especially poignant for the orchestral youth to experience what living music is and how it can directly effect their music making!”
Biography
Seare Farhat strives to compose music that connects the listener to the visceral imagination, energy, and transformation of narrative. He first began his musical endeavors in Afghan folk music performances with members of his family, only later building on these valued experiences through formal education in the western classical tradition. Often inspired by other art forms, Seare has enjoyed collaborating with filmmakers, visual and performance artists, and poets. He has had his work read in masterclasses with musicians from Soundscape, has received commissions from various ensembles, like the Hampton Roads Philharmonic, the Anachronism Trio, and the Oberlin Sinfonietta, served as the young composer-in-residence of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, and has had his work performed in the US, Mexico, Japan, and Italy. Seare has had the opportunity to participate and have works performed in festivals such as Yarn|Wire institute in 2016 and served as a composition fellow at the Cortona New Music Sessions in 2019. He has received honors such as being selected for FLUX Quartet's 2019 call for scores and being a finalist for Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra's 2019 call for scores. Seare holds a B.M. in Composition and B.A. in Mathematics from Oberlin College and Conservatory. Currently, he is in the first year of his masters at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he holds the position of Assistant Director of the New Music Ensemble.
SPEM IN ALIUM
SPEM IN ALIUM was written for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in Portland, OR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the countless things sacrificed this year was music making and performance, especially at a large scale like in the orchestra. This piece was written not only to find beauty in the process of remote music making, but to embrace its quirks and challenges. The text, Spem in Alium harkens the Thomas Tallis motet of the same name written in 1570 for eight choirs, each of five voices, all in densely heterophonic and imitative counterpoint. The text, Spem in Alium (or Trust in Any Other) aptly fits the setting, where each voice, though independently and sometimes incongruently vocalizing, finds itself in a wash of texture and harmony. Similarly, my setting here for string orchestra in three groups [quintets at minimum] is a wash of sound that sometimes focuses on one group, and at other times floods the ears with massive sonorities. During this pandemic, we have been asked to trust in our fellow citizens and listen to each other's needs in an unprecedented way. Not only is this piece an exercise for the musicians to listen locally in a globally chaotic contrapuntal environment, but also for the listener to draw their attention to the many little sounds of individuals as well as the bustling world of sound created from their heterophony. I hope that together we can find peace in the chaos and know that, even though it seems as if we are as distant as possible now in our own separate pods, that we are still members of a community of humans built around trust and with the welfare of all in mind.