Layale Chaker

Raised at the crossroads of several musical streams in her native Lebanon, composer and violinist Layale Chaker’s complex sound universe is described by NPR as “beguiling” with “bright and beautiful strands… gorgeous, wine-dark swirls,” lying at the intersection of classical contemporary music, jazz, Arabic music, and improvisation. A 2020-2022 Jerome Hill Fellow, Chaker is also recipient of the 2022 Opera America Discovery 2022 Award, among many other accolades.

To set the stage for Chaker’s 2023-2024 season, her new work Dawning made its world premiere at Omaha’s Nebraska Crossroads Music Festival, which co-commissioned the piece alongside the New York Philharmonic. The work was subsequently performed by the New York Philharmonic and by Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra. Ruinous Gods, Chaker’s debut full-length chamber opera in collaboration with librettist Lisa Schlesinger, will see its world premiere at the 2024 Spoleto Festival, followed by its European premiere at Wuppertal Opera in the fall of 2024. This season also brings the release of a new double portrait album on In a Circle Records, one disc featuring Chaker’s classical works performed by the ETHEL Quartet, and the other a complementary portrait with Chaker’s chamber jazz quintet, Sarafand. 

In February 2024, Sarafand takes on a residency with the University of Richmond – exemplifying the quintet’s role within the “cultural aquifer,” or educational feeder system for future artists. The ensemble recently completed a year-long residency as part of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, yielding a program of new works – called Radio Afloat – that has been recorded for an upcoming album release. Sarafand has performed throughout the U.S., Europe and the Middle East and their debut album, Inner Rhyme (In a Circle Records), ranked #2 on NPR’s 10 Best Releases of 2019.

Chaker commenced her musical training at the National Higher Conservatory of Beirut in her native country, before pursuing higher degrees at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Royal Academy of Music in London. She is a Laureate of the 2019 Concours international de Chant-Piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger; Finalist of the 2018 Rolex Mentor & Protege Prize; winner of the 2017 Ruth Anderson Competition; and recipient of the 2019 Diaphonique Franco-British Commission Prize, the 2018 Arab Fund for Arts and Culture Grant and the 2018 Royal Academy of Music Guinness Award.

Learn more at www.layalechaker.com.

Described by one critic as “a phenomenal harp player who can make her instrument ring with unparalleled purity,” Maeve Gilchrist has taken the Celtic (lever) harp to new levels of performance and visibility. Originally from Scotland, Maeve has been making her mark as a ground-breaking harpist in the US for the last 17 years through her collaborations with artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, The Silkroad Project, Nic Gareiss, Viktor Krauss, Darol Anger, Solas and Okkyung Lee. 

Born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, and currently based in Brooklyn, N.Y., Maeve‘s innovative approach to her instrument stretches its harmonic limits and improvisational possibilities. She is as at home as a soloist with an internationally renowned orchestra as she is playing with a traditional Irish folk group or using electronic augmentation in a more contemporary, improvisatory setting.

Maeve tours internationally as a bandleader and composer as well as belonging to a number of innovative collaborations, including the prestigious Silkroad Ensemble, Arooj Aftab’s Vulture Prince Ensemble,progressive folk-quartet DuoDuo and a more electronics based project with Nashville— based bassist Viktor Krauss. She has appeared at such major music events as Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Tanglewood Jazz Festival, the World Harp Congress in Amsterdam and the historic opening of the Scottish Parliament.

Maeve has released five albums to date, including “The Harpweaver,” which was hailed by the Irish times in its five-star review as “Buoyant, sprightly and utterly beguiling… a snapshot of a musician at the top of her game." She was the first lever harpist to be employed as an instructor by her alma mater, Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she taught for five years before switching to being a visiting artist in 2018. She has written several instructional books and is an in-demand composer and arranger. Maeve is the co-artistic director of the new Rockport Celtic Roots and Branches Festival and the co-music director of WGBH’s Christmas Celtic Sojourn.