Prof. Zosha Di Castri’s new work Invisible House will receive its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, September 16-19, and October 1st, at Lincoln Center, opening the season alongside works by John Adams and Prokofiev.
Invisible House was inspired by the work of Ukrainian-American poet Ilya Kaminsky, who writes poignantly about the challenge, and yet absolute necessity, of creating art in difficult times in his poem "Author's Prayer". Di Castri’s musical response is an urgent call to action, a beseeching prayer, the unleashing of wildness, and in part, a communal polyphony to connect with a lost ancestral home.
The work also draws from Di Castri’s Ukrainian great-grandfather’s memoirs, which cover his time as a soldier in World War I and immigration story to Canada. Invisible House bears witness to these struggles, connecting back through Ukrainian polyphonic folk music, channeling its strident, bright, belting quality, and ornate micro-variations.
The title elicits not only the inner life we build to weather the turmoil of the world, but also the places of collective gathering that are not always tied to a physical location, such as music and poetry, which connect across time and place, generations and continents.
In addition to the New York Performances, Invisible House will tour with the New York Philharmonic to Europe in October, receiving performances in Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Hamburg, and Vienna.
