Gaia is an artistic look at climate change, which causes environmental and geopolitical challenges and, in turn, causes unrest and population displacement. Hatzis' approach to the climate change theme has been to musically explore two specific regions of our world which are most heavily impacted by climate change: the Fertile Crescent and the Arctic. Two singers representing the cultures of these two regions, Maryem Hassan Tollar, a Sufi singer, and Tiffany Ayalik, an Inuit throat singer, epitomize the cultural dialectic between the migrant and nativist viewpoints, with the orchestra and the SurroundSound electronics mediating the two viewpoints. This work was previously titled Syn-Phonia (Migration Patterns) and is still in development.
Born in Greece, educated in the United States and a Canadian citizen since 1985, composer Christos Hatzis (b.1953) is becoming widely known as a leading figure in contemporary classical music. His works are performed and broadcast throughout the world, and their frequent combination of a powerful spiritual foundation with an immediately accessible appeal has made a deep emotional impact upon audiences and performers alike.
