FROM SYRIA TO THE STRING QUARTET: EMMY-NOMINATED COMPOSER KAREEM ROUSTOM’S SHADES OF NIGHT OUT TODAY VIA PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS

COLLECTION EXPANDS WESTERN CLASSICAL REPERTOIRE RESISTS OPPRESSION AND SEEKS TO UNIFY THROUGH SONG WITH MUSIC OF LONGING, DEFIANCE AND LUMINOUS HOPE

October 24, 2025—Acclaimed composer Kareem Roustom releases a new album, Shades of Night today via Phenotypic Recordings. Listen/purchase the album HERE.

Serving at once as a reflection on his multifaceted Arab-Western identity, and on the current tumultuous time for American democracy and the planet, Roustom’s music observes and transcends artificial borders, allowing us to recognize and connect with one another.

In Shades of Night, Roustom—long celebrated for bridging worlds—writes for small ensembles with a voice both ancient and urgent. Drawing on the melodic modes, rhythmic contours, and ornamentation of Arabic folk traditions from Palestine and across the Levant, Roustom weaves these threads into the harmonic and structural fabric of the Western canon. The result is a soundscape that feels both rooted and boundless: music of longing, defiance, and luminous hope.

Among the collection is the album’s first offering, “Four Dances from Clorinda Agonistes: IV. Unity,” a bold new retelling of Monteverdi’s 1638 opera, Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. Roustom shares: “Unity” is based on an Iraqi line dance called Chobi. Though refugees often carry very little with them when fleeing violence, they can carry knowledge and memories of song, dance, poetry, and art. This movement is an homage to both the things that are left behind and those that are carried in the heart.”

Created between 2018 and 2023, (pre-, mid-, and post-pandemic), Shades of Night is performed by the Balourdet Quartet. A violin and percussion duet composed of violinist EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks & percussionist Piero Guimaraes appears on “Gnizo.”

Roustom furthers, “This music is a natural expression of my multifaceted identity and varied interests, but it is also my hope that this music may help people from the Arab world and the “Western” world to better understand each other. Though both are comprised of a beautifully dazzling variety of cultures, religions, and complex histories, there is a shared humanity.

Cuts to arts funding and the slow starvation of cultural institutions throughout the United States is part of this regime’s methodology. Authoritarian regimes throughout history have sought to suppress artists, because artists are at the forefront of free expression—the linchpin of democracy— giving form to the sentiments of people, as well as voicing hopes and visions of a better world. Ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural minorities have always been specially targeted; to strip them of their cultural inheritance is a way to make them invisible and silent, and to eventually eradicate them.

Despite this, artists are still creating and making their voices heard, in the United States and abroad. The will to inquire, to create, and to bring to life something in collaboration with the many kindred spirits involved in the genesis and development of each work is what keeps so many of us grounded and sustains life. It gives me great hope for the world that I have found so many supporters of this endeavor.”

ABOUT KAREEM ROUSTOM

Emmy nominated Syrian American composer Kareem Roustom’s genre-crossing collaborations include music commissioned by conductor Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet, arrangements for pop icons Shakira and Tina Turner, and a recent collaboration with acclaimed British choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh.

Roustom has been composer-in-residence at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming, and with the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen and the Mannheim Philharmonic in Germany. A musically bilingual composer, Roustom is rooted in the music of the Arab Near East, but his music often expresses beyond the confines of tradition. The themes of a number of his works touch issues of those affected by war and instability.

Roustom’s music has been performed by ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Boulez Ensemble, Oregon Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse, The Crossing choir, Lorelei Ensemble, A Far Cry, and at renowned festivals and halls such as the BBC Proms, the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Verbier Festival, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and others.

ABOUT PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS

Phenotypic Recordings brings to light new music by world-class musicians and innovative composers, with a focus on music that highlights the most important issues facing the world today. As another way of amplifying artistic voices, Pheno donates its revenue from streaming and downloads to support non-profit causes identified by the artists making the music.

For more information, please contact Krista Williams, Christopher Emond or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

CREDITS
Featuring: Balourdet Quartet,
EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks & Piero Guimaraes

Balourdet Quartet
Angela Bae, Violin (Violin 1 on tracks 5-13)
Justin DeFilippis, Violin (Violin 1 on tracks 1-4 and 17-20)
Benjamin Zannoni, Viola
Russell Houston, Cello

EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks, Violin & Piero Guimaraes, Percussion on Gnizo

Produced & Edited by Kareem Roustom & John Weston

Creative Director, Phenotypic Recordings, Production Coordinator: Stephen Prutsman

Recorded November 1–3, 2023 at Futura Productions, Roslindale, MA

Recording Engineer: John Weston

Assistant Engineer: Chris Wilson

Gnizo recorded November 10, 2023 at Distler Hall, Tufts University’s Department of Music

Recording Engineer: Peter Atkinson

Mixing & Mastering: John Weston at Futura Productions, Roslindale, MA

Album Art & Design: Kevork Mourad

Graphic Design: Chris Kornmann

TRACK LIST SHADES OF NIGHT
1. Syrian Folk Songs Book 1: I. This Tawny Beauty
2. Syrian Folk Songs Book 1: II. As She Leaves Her Father’s Home
3. Syrian Folk Songs Book 1: III. Blessed Are Your Wedding Garments
4. Syrian Folk Songs Book 1: IV. Under My Parents’ Watchful Eyes
5. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: I. Sunset
6. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: II. Twilight
7. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: III. Fully Dark
8. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: IV.
Commingling of Light & Darkness
9. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: V. Like Coal
10. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: VI. Midnight
11. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: VII. The Last Part of the Night
12. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: VIII. False Dawn
13. String Quartet No. 1 Shades of Night: IX. True Dawn
14. Gnizo: I. Liberamente - espressivo ma semplice
15. Gnizo: II. Con moto
16. Gnizo: III. Tranquillamente
17. Four Dances from Clorinda Agonistes: I. Transitions
18. Four Dances from Clorinda Agonistes: II. Pursuit
19. Four Dances from Clorinda Agonistes: III. Yearning
20. Four Dances from Clorinda Agonistes: IV. Unity

www.kr-music.com
www.phenotypicrecordings.com