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posted 05/07/10 12:00 PM | updated 05/07/10 11:40 AM
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Esoterics Choral Concert Tonight & Saturday at SAM's Sculpture Park

By Michael van Baker
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One thing I like about the Esoterics is that the chorus lives their name. Eric Banks, their founding director and (full disclosure) Facebook friend of yours truly, has (recounts the Seattle Times' Michael Upchurch) "looked to the moons of the solar system ("Onomata planêtôn"), the stars of the galaxy ("Tabula siderum zodiaco") and the mystical side of Islam ("Jâvdâni," "Twelve Qur'anic visions") for inspiration."

Tonight and Saturday the group convenes at the PACCAR Pavilion at SAM's Sculpture Park for what promises to be a glorious spring evening and an a capella opera Banks calls The Seven Creations (HAPTADAMA). Tickets are $18 general, $15 student/senior. 

In this instance, the opera details, in seven movements, how the Zoroastrian struggle between good and evil brought about the seven "elements": sky, water, earth, plants, animals, humans, and fire. It's based on based both on the Gathas, the songs of Zarathushtra ("arguably the oldest songs in recorded human history," says the Esoterics' site), and the Bundahishn, the Persian version of Zoroastrian creation.

Banks traveled to Mumbai, India, for his research and spent several months there hearing some of the sacred chants and myths the old-fashioned way: having someone sing them into his ear. That said, you don't have to brush up on your Farsi and Aramaic and what-have-you to enjoy the concert. There will be translated titles to help you follow along.

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Tags: zoroastrianism, eric banks, choral, opera, haptadama, seven creations, esoterics, sculpture park + add tags
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