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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (February 18, 2025) — For their latest release on Cedille Records, the Cavatina Duo—Bosnian classical guitarist Denis Azabagić and Spanish flutist Eugenia Moliner—presents world premiere recordings of five new works written for them by Clarice Assad, Sergio Assad, Matthew Dunne, Stacy Garrop, and Atanas Ourkouzounov, all drawing on the music and history of the Romani diaspora. On select works, the Duo is joined by the Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet, or individual members of the quartet. River of Fire will be released on March 14, 2025.
It is believed that a variety of closely related ethnic peoples known variously as Romani, Roma, or “Gypsies” originated in what is now southeast Pakistan, eventually migrating into Eastern Europe as well as forking southward through the Middle East, down into Egypt, across Northern Africa, and up into Southern Spain. “Gypsy music” is as diverse as the Romani that play and perpetuate it; regionally defined Romani groups encountered native music cultures, blending them with their own unique musical sensibilities.
Upon deciding to embark on a Gypsy music project, Azabagić and Moliner saw an opportunity to breathe new life into this theme by using Gypsy music, culture, and history as a point of departure for newly commissioned works. Azabagić explains that at this stage of his musical career, he feels a longing to contribute to the repertoire—to create new and enduring music that expands and sustains the canon. This idea of creating something “new” or “original” emphasizes that music, like language, is always in a state of flux and constantly evolving.
In writing Romani Songs, Stacy Garrop was particularly inspired by Romani dancers; the work, performed with Pacifica Quartet cellist Brandon Vamos, incorporates clapping, stomping, and the guitar as percussion. Pacifica violinist Samin Ganatra joins the Duo for Sérgio Assad’s Contos Ciganos, which follows the dissemination of the Romani from traditional dances of India’s Punjab region to Gelem Gelem, considered an unofficial Romani anthem. Atanas Ourkouzounov’s Raga Ibraima blends Balkan and Romani sounds with the Indian raga, paying homage to Bulgarian-Romani clarinetist Ivo Papazov. Matthew Dunne’s Three Artisans, composed in memory of flutist Tal Perkes, weaves in European jazz, Flamenco, and Romani musical influences. Clarice Assad’s Four Scenes—performed by the combined Cavatina Duo and Pacifica Quartet—depict the Romani experience of being in constant motion and the anxiety inherent in such instability.
Through this project, Azabagić and Moliner hope to break down inherited negative cultural stereotypes of the Romani people. The Romani have endured extraordinary marginalization and violence throughout their history as an “exotic” people foreign to native cultures. Ultimately, the Gypsy diaspora represents the common theme of displacement in humanity: from the smallest examples of leaving home or losing one’s innocence to the larger examples of war refugees or a centuries-old exiled, nomadic people skirting the fringes of conventional society. Although the human race is often divided into “us” and “them,” Azabagić and Moliner believe that these boundaries can be dissolved through music as we discover our shared humanity.
River of Fire is the Cavatina Duo's fourth recording on Cedille Records, following their highly praised Sephardic Journey, described as “one of the most delightful chamber recordings” by the American Record Guide and “wonderful beyond praise” by Fanfare. Sephardic Journey also features five world premieres of works composed specifically for the Duo.
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