Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo

for SSAA, solo violin, and piano
Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo, here re-scored for upper voices, tells the extraordinary story of Nujeen Mustafa, a Kurdish teenager with cerebral palsy forced by war to flee her home and embark on an arduous journey to Europe with her sister. In this five-movement cantata Nujeen's story - recounted in her biography 'The Girl from Aleppo' (co-authored by Christina Lamb) - is retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland and richly scored by Cecilia McDowall. A wealth of musical effects are employed to capture the narrative, including chorales, rhythmic spoken sections, body percussion, and a solo violin part infused with Middle Eastern flavours. The prevailing mood of Nujeen's story is embodied by the final line of a chorale that bookends this unique concert work: 'singing the song of life itself.'