Two Faiths: One Spirit - Cleveland

The musical centerpiece of TWO FAITHS: ONE SPIRIT is Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book by the internationally known Bosnian composer and accordionist Merima Ključo. This work was inspired by the journey of a breathtakingly illustrated Jewish manuscript from its creation in 15th-century Spain to Sarajevo, where it was hidden from the Nazis by a Muslim Imam during World War II. Pulitzer Prize winning author Geraldine Brooks tells a fictionalized version of the story in her novel People of the Book.

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, by Joshua Hammer, tells a true parallel story that recounts the rescue of a priceless treasury of 15th-century Muslim manuscripts and artifacts created in Timbuktu from the Al-Qaeda invasion of Mali in 2012. An essential part in that story was played by Dr. Henry Lewis Gates, Harvard professor and Peabody Award winner for his PBS documentary about African history.

Bardanashvili Elegy for Strings
Ključo Sarajevo Haggadah: Music of the Book
Roustom Dabke
Cohen Warzazat
Ranjbaran Seven Passages

CONDUCTOR:
Avner Dorman

SOLOIST:
Merima Kljuco, accordion