Karl Jenkins’s One World Receives North American Premiere at Carnegie Hall
Karl Jenkins’s recent work for soloists, choir, and orchestra receives its North American premiere at Carnegie Hall on January 20.
One World by Karl Jenkins receives its North American premiere at Carnegie Hall on January 20, presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York. Conductor Jonathan Griffith leads singers from around the world with the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and renowned soloists, including soprano Penelope Shumate, mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa, and baritone Daniel Rich. Karl Jenkins’s Gloria is also featured on the program.
One World premiered in concert in November 2023 at the Brucknerhaus in Linz with baritone Roderick Williams, soprano Ruby Hughes, and the World Orchestra and Choir for Peace, led by the composer. The World Orchestra and Choir for Peace also appear on the premiere recording, with Williams, soprano Lucy Crowe, and mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge as soloists, conducted by Jenkins. Two of the movements on the recording feature the Stay at Home Choir—a community of over 1000 singers from around the world.
> Listen to the full recording of One World
> Watch the world premiere performance
Composed in 2021-2022 during the pandemic, One World, scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra confronts divisive issues in our fractured world (e.g., climate change, human trafficking, terrorism, war), and offers a message of healing and peace.
Jenkins describes what One World is about:
“One movement from One World encapsulates what the project is all about: ‘Tikkun Olam,’ Hebrew for ‘repair the world.’ The work, for soloists, choir and orchestra, heralds a vision of a peaceful and egalitarian planet that treats nature and ecological issues with respect and where human rights are universal. Where truth is truth and news is never ‘fake,’ where leaders do not lie, transparency is a given and all faiths live together in peace. There is neither famine nor war.”
The 60-minute score sets texts from the Bible, the Hindu Gayatri Mantra as well as the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Frances Harper, Kahlil Gibran, and Carol Barratt. One World is set in 14 movements, starting with In The Beginning, which represents the creation of the world from contrasting perspectives of present-day cosmological theory and the Biblical Genesis text. Several of the movements center around specific world issues, such as Paradise Lost?, which reflects on our planet’s growing climate crisis, and Hidden Faces, which reminds us that slavery is still prevalent today in forms such as human trafficking.
This season also sees the Swiss premiere of One World with CantiChor and the Orchester der Kantonsschule Sargans, led by Thilo Bräutigam (May 3-4).
Concert Information
Monday, January 20 at 7pm ET
Carnegie Hall | New York
More info
Distinguished Concerts Orchestra
Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Jonathan Griffith, Conductor
Elliott Forrest, Host
Penelope Shumate, Soprano
Claudia Chapa, Mezzo-Soprano
Daniel Rich, Baritone
KARL JENKINS One World (North American Premiere)
KARL JENKINS Gloria
> Further information on Work: One World
Photo: Rhys Frampton