Elissar Hanna

Composer, Dancer, Teacher, Healer

Here's where I share music, thoughts, and upcoming performances, classes, or events.

Creations in Progress

In an effort to get ideas rolling and move them out of my imagination and into the public, I've decided to publish works 'in progress'. In my experience, embracing imperfection and releasing judgment are important aspects of creative freedom. Here are a few experiments. I'll add to this page as ideas come to life.

Summer 2020

Spring 2020

Music

As a composer, much of my inspiration has come from my studies of Sufi texts and from my love of nature. I've also been inspired by many talented and beautiful musician colleagues who've collaborated and performed my work.

Mercy describes the trajectory of love as it grows to attain its full measure. It is like a thunder storm: it begins with a few drops, develops into a larger downpour and then arrives at an overwhelming expression of power. And, when it is complete, everything is saturated with water, which is the source of life. Mercy was inspired by the Sufi teachings of Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal who often said: “water is mercy and love”.

Tariqa means ‘road’, ‘path’, or ‘way’ in Arabic. And specifically, it is the spiritual road that leads to al-Haqiqa, the world of the true reality. Tariqa, written for solo flute, evokes the lightness of this road laden with twists and turns, moments of repose and swiftness, and with exploration and appreciation. The bulk of Tariqa was inspired and written in rural California where I stayed, immersed in the liveliness of a Sufi family on their farm.

The Trust, for mezzo soprano and small ensemble, is part of a larger worked called The Garden.

The music from Ocean Dance originated in a dream in which I was swimming in an ocean with a golden sunlight shining. In this dream, I heard the main theme and accompaniment. I tried to evoke the feeling of my dream in Ocean Dance. The opening of the piece is the main theme and accompaniment that I heard in the dream and, it recurs throughout. The harmonic slides mimic the sounds of whales. The wood block rhythms recall the boat that I saw in my dream. The contrapuntal bass in the piano part is like the ocean waves dancing. And, the flutter tongue thirds in the flute at the end create an image of watching a boat disappear into the horizon.

Adam Loves Eve, for soprano and small ensemble, is part of a larger work called The Garden.

The Garden tells the story of Adam and Eve from the Sufi Islamic perspective. It is particularly concerned with expressing the inner esoteric meanings within this age old story. Laid out in the form of a dramatic narrative, The Garden is scored for small ensemble, as well as, for narrators played by the vocalists. It highlights the dramatic power of the operatic voice, as well as, of the choral sound and of brass, percussion, and piano. The work is based on passages of the Qur’an, as well as, on the writings of Islamic scholar, Sidi Muhammad al-Jamal.

Tariqa and Mercy were written as part of a Summer project in Berkeley, California. In late June 2015, I received the Nicole Senécal Scholarship in Music. This bursary enabled me to spend 6 weeks in California and to study with composer David Coll, PhD (UC Berkeley).After the first year of my MA, David Coll suggested that I undertake an in depth compositional process whereby I would choose two solo musicians and work with them individually. The goal was to write pieces that built on each player’s personal strengths and stylistic preferences, as well as, on their instrument’s particularities. Thus, I began to work with two talented colleagues in Ottawa: flutist, Graham McVeety, and pianist, Luke Bell. When I received the news of having been chosen as the recipient of the Nicole Senécal Scholarship in Music, I brought these projects with me to California where I was able to stay in a rural setting with friends on their farm. During my stay, I worked daily on my compositions and weekly with David Coll.

Dance

more to come...

Fragments, choreographed by Lara Kramer, is a contemporary dance piece which was first inspired by her mother’s stories of the Indian Residential Schools in Canada. It gives voice to the many stories Lara heard throughout her life and conveys a personal interpretation of the Indian Residential Schools.Fragments expresses, in a poetic form, the silent emotions and experiences of the young girls who attended the schools. It is not an attempt to retell any one story, but rather to process the knowledge of these schools. The project aims to build a dialogue around a history too often ignored.

Thoughts

more to come...