Voices of the Pearl, Volume 2 Presenting another 4 commissioned premieres, on this release you will hear riveting new sonorities and virtuosic performances, framing texts by female esoteric practitioners from all world traditions, in Hebrew, Chinese, Pali, and Bahasa Malaysia. For complete texts and translations, please see the project website: www.voicesofthepearl.org. Winner of a Harvard Fromm Commissioning Award, Moshe Shulman’s "Seven Prophetesses" sets seven newly commissioned Hebrew poems by Juli Varshavsky, which imagine the inner landscapes of the Seven Prophetesses from the Jewish tradition. Scored for voice, harp, and string quartet, with a reduction for harp and voice also available, the intensely modern take in words and music opens a unique window into the worlds of these seven women: Miriam, Huldah, Esther, Avigail, Sarah, Hannah, and Deborah. It premiered at Scripps College in March 23, 2017, and at the incubator for musical innovation, the University of New Mexico Composers’ Symposium. Shulman’s newest composition for Voices of the Pearl marks an important and joyful milestone in our collaborative project. His composition, 'Shir Ha Shirim' launched the Voices of the Pearl project over 5 years ago and is available on Volume 1 of the Voices of the Pearl series. "Snowflakes, Blossoms: Friends of the Way" was composed by Marjorie Merryman for premiere at Scripps College in 2015. The cycle sets poems by 17th-century Buddhist Chan nuns in China. All three texts selected express the experience of distance and absence. Displaced by war and political upheaval, they turned to a life of material simplicity, contemplation, scholarship and poetry. Their muted expressions of longing suggest deep emotion, but ultimately they arrive at a heightened acceptance, spirituality and oneness with the natural world. "Sounds Ineffable" was composed by Bill Alves, and was premiered by Anne Harley, accompanied by live electronics by the composer. The piece honors a very early female leader in the Buddhist tradition: Uppalavana. The Buddha singled out 13 female disciples for special commendation and Uppalavanna was noted as an especially worthy adept for her mystical powers. Uppalavanna’s words are conserved in the original Pali in the Therigatha. They transmit her experience and inspire future generations of women on the spiritual path. Using live-electronics to slow the vocal and percussion lines, the piece presents Uppalavana's verses in 6 different speeds, all ending simultaneously; one might think of it as a modern revisitation of the medieval technique of metric modulation. Perhaps this is sonic metaphor for six different levels of consciousness perceived simultaneously by Uppalavana. India has led the world in nurturing the evolution and preservation of esoteric traditions over thousands of years. Despite the rich tradition of mystical experience, however, in India, as in almost everywhere in the world, the tradition of educating women in the processes for attaining for enlightenment in the female body has nearly been extinguished many times. Nevertheless, often as a form of dissenting knowledge, in every corner of the globe, remarkable women have pursued the mystical path over the centuries. “Forest Threnody” is a major work for mixed choirs and soprano soloists by rising Malaysian Chinese composer, Yii Kah Hoe. The premiere was accompanied by pre-recorded synthesized soundtrack and video montage by Steve Rowell. The creation was an international collaboration between composer Yii Kah Hoe (Malaysia), Steve Rowell, Charles W. Kamm, and Anne Harley. The libretto was selected from both Buddhist holy scriptures in Pali from the Therigatha, from a poem donated by the poet A. Ahmad Said, and from scientific data, and was sung in several languages (English, Pali, Bahasa Malaysia ). Yii’s composition also incorporates frog calls from the last remaining primary forest of Borneo, collected by Prof. Jennifer Sheridan (Yale–NUS), where the forest is disappearing due to mining and pollution. Yii was born and raised in Borneo and the composition is intended to draw attention to the tragedy of environmental destruction, particularly in and around Borneo.