Noémie Chemali - Opus 961 (2024)

Opus 961 is the debut album by French-Lebanese-American violist Noemie Chemali, featuring solo viola and chamber music by young Lebanese composers.

The title is a reference to the country's telephone area code and celebrates the resilience of the people of Beirut after the 2020 seaport explosion, which also destroyed Chemali's grandmother's house.

French-Lebanese-American violist Noemie Chemali received her Bachelor's degree from McGill University's Schulich School of Music, her Artist Diploma from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, and her Master's Degree from The Juilliard School. Passionate about diversifying musical audiences, she co-founded the Hildegard Project, which aims to bring music written by women composers to women's shelters in the greater Montreal area and was invited to speak about her work at the Classical Evolution/Revolution Conference in Santa Barbara, CA. Most recently, she founded Music@Daybreak, an interdisciplinary performance and research project which features performances at homeless shelters in collaboration with the Sociology department at Mercer University.

Opus 961 is her debut album of music written by contemporary Lebanese composers. The result is a collection of hauntingly beautiful, sometimes percussive pieces, expertly performed by Noemie along with Shaleah Feinstein; Raffi Boden; Yann Chemali; Kebra-Seyoun Charles; Lauren Scanio; Deanna Cirielli playing various different stringed instruments, harp and flute.