Love, Loss, Exile
Love, Loss, Exile - Friday, April 4th
We're delighted to share these insights from our soprano soloist, Anastasia Rege, on the song cycle Love, Loss, Exile, the featured work of CLO's April 4th performance:
I was introduced to Love, Loss, Exile by Juhi Bansal through our pianist, Min Young Kang, in preparation for a performance with Arazzo Music Festival, under the direction of our cellist, Samuel DeCaprio. I instantly connected with the music.
The song cycle is extraordinarily moving, setting short poetic phrases called landays, which are intended to "cut like a knife." Landays are part of a rich tradition of Afghan women's poetry, addressing themes of love, grief, resistance, and resilience with sharp, emotive power. These traditional two-line poems are passed down orally, as women are often prohibited from speaking, reading, and writing and are denied the opportunity to learn.
Bansal's music beautifully captures the essence of the text, weaving melodic expressions of longing while exploring non-Western tonality, ornamentation, and timbres from the Afghan musical tradition.
In a world where women's voices are increasingly silenced, performing this song cycle serves as both a form of resistance and an homage, amplifying stories of resilience and strength.
This deeply moving program brings together acclaimed artists Anastasia Rege (soprano), Samuel DeCaprio (cello), and Min Young Kang (piano) to explore themes of love, longing, and displacement through a captivating selection of works:
Maurice Ravel – Five Greek Popular Songs (French folk melodies filled with joy and nostalgia)
André Previn & Toni Morrison – Four Songs (a powerful fusion of poetry and music)
Béla Bartók – Roumanian Folk Dances (vibrant and rhythmically dynamic pieces)
Juhi Bansal – Love, Loss, Exile (Afghan women’s poetry set to hauntingly beautiful music)
Richard Strauss – Morgen! (a delicate and hopeful vision of tomorrow)
Friday, April 4th at 7:30pm
Harkness Chapel at Connecticut College
New London, CT
Tickets are $25 (Students Free) and can be purchased at the door or here: