Day 15 of 50: I am empowered by Joelle Khoury, Lebanese-American composer, her “Variations on Imaginary Folk Dances” for voice and string orchestra, and her words:
“The public is often surprised that the music they just heard was composed by an Arab woman. This is my greatest accomplishment in the field, since being positively active (and not activist) and producing quality is the greatest means of changing attitudes towards women.” ~ Joelle Khoury
Listening to “Variations on Imaginary Folk Dances,” I imagine the 3 sisters from the Haudenosaunee tale, “The Legend of the Three Sisters,” frolicking in time with the howling wind, the swaying of the trees… the rampant rustling of glossy leaves. I find my mind weaving together disparate tales into one long, musical epic that begins dancing under a field of stardust and leaping foliage and which continues forever, beyond 1001 nights into infinity.
“Joelle Khoury” (2020), Oil on fiberboard, 6 x 6