Hai Shirim is a song cycle for ensemble and youth choir. It is the result of an extensive research into Arabic poetry from Israel, Palestine and its surroundings. The piece is based on poetry and prose from a wide range of generations and dialects and explores the language through its tonality and melodic details.
After choosing the texts, Dunietz recorded the living poets reading their work and used their recorded voice as her melodic base for each song. Once the piece was composed, a learning process with the young girls of the choir began - as the girls do not speak Arabic, we dived deep into deepening our understanding of pronunciation and essence, phonetics and meaning, getting to know the beautiful depths of the language and its cultural history. An intimate encounter unveiled and the members of the choir formed a strong bond with the language through music. In addition to the adventure of performing a new experimental piece, this process brought hope to melting the fears and prejudice instilled in us.
Hai Shirim feat. Meitar Ensemble & Mädchenchor am Essener Dom at Moers Festival, Moers, June 2022
Hai Shirim feat. Meitar Ensemble & Bat-Kol Girls Choir at CEME Festival, December 2017