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Reena Esmail | Composer

@reenaesmail

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orchestra | choir | chamber | band 🎵
Connecting Indian and Western classical music

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This piece is out now on all streaming platforms!

Rapid fire exchange of musical cultures 🎶💥🎶

This movement is called Mirror|Opposite (Aks aur Saaya)

Hindustani singer Saili Oak @sailimusic sings a short phrase in sargam, and soprano @lucy_fitz_gibbon sings the mirror image of it in solfege.

This form is called #jugalabandi in Hindustani music — where the exchanges get faster and faster between two ‘competitors’. It requires super quick musical reflexes but also a sense of playfulness.

I have loved watching Saili and Lucy sing this piece over the years (their first performance was in 2018!) — you can see even in this game they are playing with one another how deep their relationship is.

They are joined by the incredible musicians of @salastinala — who have also been dear collaborators of mine for so many years. And this video was directed by Louis Ng @louisng.wav — who captured the spirit of this piece so beautifully ✨
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#solfège #sargam #music #violin #orchestra #classical #concert #choralmusic #musicians #composer #classicalpiano #chambermusic #classicalmusicians #choir #desi #desimusician #indian #hindustani #hindi #westernclassicalmusic #reenaesmail by @reenaesmail

This Father’s Day, I’m reposting my 2018 letter to the parents of young artists from immigrant families.

The single biggest reason we don’t see more South Asians in the arts is because our parents often encourage us to go into more lucrative and financially secure fields.

I totally get it. They’re not wrong to be worried.

It’s really, really hard to make a career in the arts.

But it was really, really hard to move to a new country and raise children here too.

That perseverance against all odds, through the leanest and most adverse times, is just one of many skills our immigrant parents learned — and that we can learn from them.

Happy Fathers Day 💕
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#immigrant #immigrantparents #youngartist #youngmusician #musicstudent #southasian #indian #fathersday #father #mother #loveletter #rilke #letterstoayoungpoet #powerstruggle by @reenaesmail

@reenaesmail and I have written a new song cycle! WIR was commissioned by #HilaryHahn & #MatthiasGoerne for their 2026 US tour.

This is our first major work since #AWinterBreviary and I feel especially proud of it. WIR is a 30 minute piece that brings music and word together to pray for the nourishment only silence can give us. For more of the story, find the programming note below.

World premiere is this Friday at @spiveyhall. Another spot in Athens then on to California. I hope you all will go see it if you can-- tour dates and ticket links can be found in my bio.

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In this time of constant noise, WIR invites us to remember that silence is the nourishing gift we now most need.

Written by poet Rebecca Gayle Howell, this new bespoke text moves us through a lyric elegy for the quiet we risk losing. As Howell prays for its return, she weaves her own English poetry with German fragments from Paul Celan, a poet survivor of the Holocaust who knew all too well the dangers caused by constant din.

We begin with a sober chant— Die Urnen der Stille sind leer / Die Urnen der Stille sind leer / Silence, your ash is spread. As the cycle advances, the two poets call and respond to each other in a dialogue that echoes across the canyons of history into our present hope that it’s not too late to recover solitude.

WIR is composed by Reena Esmail for violinist Hilary Hahn and baritone Matthias Goerne. At their request, there is no piano between them: audiences will experience only violin and voice, accompanied by nothing but the silence the piece seeks. These two exceptional voices meet one another in disquiet and rest, requiem and revelation as they reveal what the divine Noone says once the noise falls away.

WIR – the German word for WE. Poly-vocal, bilingual, and minimal, Esmail & Howell's WIR whirls with faith that silence can still guide us back to one another and to ourselves.

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Photo of violinist Hillary Hahn by Michael Patrick O'Leary

Photo of Matthias Goerne by Marco Borggreve by @reenaesmail

For your GRAMMY consideration

Wildfire can devastate an ecosystem. But a flicker of that same flame, held in our hand, can be the light that leads us forward.

Writing Terra Infirma — somewhere between a harp+percussion concerto and a one-woman show — for the formidable @yolanda_kondonassis_harp was one of the most incredible experiences of my creative life.

It moves through the devastation of wildfire and into the promise of what is possible when we harness the energy of fire, and search for solutions together.

💿 Best Classical Instrumental Solo —
ESMAIL: Terra Infirma: Concerto for Harp and Percussion — Yolanda Kondonassis, soloist

💿 Best Contemporary Classical Composition —
ESMAIL: Terra Infirma: Concerto for Harp and Percussion

💿 Best Classical Compedium —
Terra Infirma

Projection Design: @camtassi
Conductor: Andrew Grams
Orchestra: Interlochen Arts Academy
Label: Azica Records

#foryourconsideration #composer #hindustani #harp by @reenaesmail

New from Reena Esmail
RE|Member for Wind Ensemble

Esmail remarks on the original orchestration for orchestra in 2021 "the piece charts the return to a world forever changed… writing the musicians back onto a stage that they left in completely uncertain circumstances, and that they are re-entering from such a wide variety of personal experiences of this time"

Listen to full audio, view score, and purchase now at murphymusicpress.com

#murphymusicpress #reenaesmail #westchester #westchesteruniversity #windensemble #newforwindband #collegeband #highschoolband #banddirector by @reenaesmail

For Your Consideration

Wildfire can devastate an ecosystem. But a flicker of that same flame, held in our hand, can be the light that leads us forward.

Writing Terra Infirma — somewhere between a harp and percussion concerto and a one-woman show — for the formidable @yolanda_kondonassis_harp was one of the most incredible experiences of my creative life.

It moves through the devastation of wildfire and into the promise of what is possible when we harness the energy of fire and search for answers together.

Best Classical Instrumental Solo —
ESMAIL: Terra Infirma: Concerto for Harp and Percussion

Best Contemporary Classical Composition —
Terra Infirma: Concerto for Harp and Percussion

Best Classical Compendium —
Terra Infirma

#foryourconsideration

Projection Design: @camtassi
Conductor: Andrew Grams
Orchestra: Interlochen Arts Academy by @reenaesmail

We were blown away by the response to the clip we posted earlier this year of our 2024 performance of @reenaesmail's 'Meri Sakhi Ki Avaaz' featuring Vidita Kanniks (@v_for_vidita) and Jackie Stevens (@jackies.7095), conducted by @eckartpreu. Since you all loved it so much, here's another clip!

This stunning work embodies a musical conversation between singers from two different traditions, Indian & Western Classical, coming together symbolically as sisters through the unity of their voices. Our upcoming Mainstage performance on August 8 expands on this musical conversation even further - check out the link in bio to learn more!

#indianclassicalmusic #hindustanimusic #sargam #indianfusion #chamberorchestra by @reenaesmail

Many thanks to the amazing team who breathed life to the performance film for 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗵, the first single from internationally acclaimed cellist Arlen Hlusko’s upcoming album release, 𝙠𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙞.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘵 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘬𝘰, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯.
- Reena Esmail, composer

Watch the performance film now at the link in bio!
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Esmail, Reena: Sandhiprakash for Solo Cello (2022) - Tippet Rise Art Center Commission

Cello: Arlen Hlusko
Directors of Photography: Erika Share and George Potter, Wild Vision Films
Creative Consultant: Annie Kloppenberg
Camera: Clint Macy
Wardrobe Design: Alayna Rasile-Digrindakis
Recording Producer: Dirk Sobotka, Soundmirror
Balance, Mixing & Mastering, Engineer: Mark Donahue, Soundmirror
Engineer & Film Sound Design: Monte Nickles
Project Manager: Rhema Mangus

Featured Works of Art:
𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭, 2016, Ensamble Studio
𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘴, 2022, Ensamble Studio
𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭, 2015, Ensamble Studio by @reenaesmail

We are pleased to release 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗵, the first single from internationally acclaimed cellist Arlen Hlusko’s upcoming album release, 𝙠𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙞. Recorded at Tippet Rise Art Center, the album highlights the richness and power of community and storytelling.

Composed by Reena Esmail and commissioned by Tippet Rise, 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗵 (The Joining of Light), is based on a Hingustani Raag sung at morning twilight, with notes that reach toward the emerging sunlight and the receding darkness, finding the liminal space between them.

Watch the performance film now at the link in bio!
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Esmail, Reena: Sandhiprakash for Solo Cello (2022) - Tippet Rise Art Center Commission

Cello: Arlen Hlusko @celloarlen
Album: komorebi
Label: Tippet Rise
Executive Producer: Tippet Rise Art Center
Directors of Photography: Erika Share and George Potter, Wild Vision Films
Creative Consultant: Annie Kloppenberg
Camera: Clint Macy
Wardrobe Design: Alayna Rasile-Digrindakis
Recording Producer: Dirk Sobotka, Soundmirror
Balance, Mixing & Mastering, Engineer: Mark Donahue, Soundmirror
Engineer & Film Sound Design: Monte Nickles

Featured Works of Art:
Inverted Portal, 2016, Ensamble Studio
Folds, 2022, Ensamble Studio
Beartooth Portal, 2015, Ensamble Studio by @reenaesmail

From @reenaesmail Cantata, featuring:

Saili Oak, Hindustati vocalist
Rohit Panchakshari, tabla
Vijay Gupta, baroque violin
Christopher Matthews, baroque flute
Eva Lymenstull, baroque cello
lan Pritchard, harpsichord

Recorded by @louisng.wav at @colburnschool

Program note by @reenaesmail:
“I’ve always been fascinated by iconoclastic women - those who somehow saw beyond the societal conventions of their time, and chose to invest in their own, more expansive vision. Mirabai is one such figure. She was a princess living in 16th-century India, who married into a rajput (royal) family. Yet she refused to consummate her own marriage because she believed herself to be in a higher spiritual marriage to Lord Krishna, a Hindu deity. Ultimately, this refusal to carry out her duties as a wife brought so much shame on her family that she was poisoned…”

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Full video up now! by @reenaesmail

#composermath 🎼✍️ 🤣

Seriously, though, this piece actually is finally done. So excited for the premiere of Dhara with @vianoquartet at @chambermusicnw this week 🎻✨ by @reenaesmail