Radio Afloat

Violinist and composer Layale Chaker was raised on the verge of multiple musical streams in her native Lebanon. Her complex sound universe, described by NPR as “beguiling” with “bright and beautiful strands… gorgeous, wine-dark swirls,” lies at the intersection of classical contemporary music, jazz, Arabic music, and improvisation. Her practice is committed to art as both sanctuary and crossroads—a place where ancestral narratives meet contemporary voices in a continuous reimagination of the world we inherit, live in, and bequeath.

In 2024, her work Qarar/Jawab premiered at the Venice Biennale and Dawning, a double concerto, premiered with the New York Philharmonic. Her debut chamber opera, Ruinous Gods, premiered at the 2024 Spoleto Festival. Layale returns to Morgenland festival with her chamber jazz ensemble Sarafand to present her latest creation: Radio Afloat.

Radio Afloat, the vision of a radio lost at sea, evokes a reflection on the intertwined destinies of people and the natural world, which manifest even louder in times of collective pain; a commentary on the ebb and flow of politics of power and conflict that further the vulnerability of the land and those who tend to it. It's written as a suite of eight movements, and it echoes “The Trace of Blue Passion”, a poem by Lebanese author Ounsi el-Hage.

Phillip Golub - piano
Sam Minaie - bass
John Hadfield - drums
Jake Charkey - cello
Layale Chaker - violin, voice, composition