Richard Danielpour: Breaking the Veil (ROCO, Mei-Ann Chen)

ROCO’s Connections Series returned to the Asia Society Texas Center on October 20 presenting “Rise Up”- an evening of thought-provoking new chamber works and dialogue spotlighting the ongoing fight for women’s rights and equality, in the U.S, Iran, and around the world.
Artistic Partner Mei-Ann Chen led an ensemble of thirteen female ROCO musicians in the world premiere of Breaking the Veil by Grammy-winning Season 19 Composer-In-Residence Richard Danielpour and a new scoring of Texas-native composer Quinn Mason‘s ballet The 19th Amendment-performed along with members of Houston Contemporary Dance Company, premiering new choreography by Founding Artistic and Executive Director Marlana Doyle.
Inspired by the current uprising and historic struggles of Iranian women seeking equal rights and freedom, Grammy-winning composer Richard Danielpour’s Breaking the Veil honors his family’s Persian heritage, and is dedicated to his mother Mehri Danielpour Weil, an Iranian sculpturist.
Go behind the music with Composer-In-Residence Richard Danielpour as we explore the work's inspiration, creation, and his family's heritage:
• Composer-In-Residence ...
Our thanks to Mehri Danielpour Weil for use of imagery of her sculpture series "Do You Hear My Cry?", honoring Iran's courageous women.
Audio engineering by Andrew Bradley
Videography by BEND Productions