Migrant Songs
Re-imagined Folk and Bedouin Songs From Egypt, Lebanon, Andalusia, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Libya & Sudan.
Behind the Scenes Recording | Video by Vanessa Crocini
Album Currently in Production
'Migrant Songs’ is a collaborative album by Ascent (Bisan Toron and Simone Giuliani) that explores voice as a sanctuary and the thread through which tradition is renewed across cultures, generations and borders. A response to the current global epidemic of outer and inner displacement from one’s homeland and, ultimately, from one’s Self, ‘Migrant Songs’ features traditional Arabic songs re-imagined through the liminal breath where old becomes new.
Ascent is Bisan Toron and Simone Giuliani
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Bisan Toron
Bisan Toron is a world music vocal artist and voice teacher. Born in Syria and raised in Paris and New York, Bisan studied classical voice performance at NYU and holds masters in Ethnomusicology from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. She did further studies in voice and improvisation with the Roy Hart-based company, Pantheatre in France.
Her music is informed by a multitude of cultures and vocal traditions, which she threads with vocal articulations that arise from the moment. Her music and teaching is grounded in the process of re-imagining the voice as a “muscle of the soul,” bridging the chasm between our inner landscape and what we actually express through sound. Bisan’s debut CD is entitled ‘Backstage Reveries, Voice Sketches by Bisan Toron.’ Her second album, ‘Toward the Roar,’ was released in 2015. She recently contributed as a co-composer and was the featured vocalist for the soundtrack of the acclaimed animated film, ‘NYsferatu, Symphony of a Century,’ released in August 2017.
Bisan was voice professor at ESADIB, National College of Dramatic Arts in Mallorca, Spain from 2008-2010. She currently teaches master classes, workshops and private lessons independently across Europe and the United States.
Photo above by Erin Ellen Kelly
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Simone Giuliani
Simone Giuliani is a producer and composer based in New York and Los Angeles. He served as Music Director for the concert Music for Mercy, the first concert ever held inside the Imperial Forums in Rome, featuring Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Kinan Azmeh, Zainal Abidin, Carly Paoli, Elaine Paige and many other international artists.
He wrote the soundtrack of 'Deep Into Shambhala' the film by Yan Dazhong (CCTV/CGTN China) that won Best Music Award at the 8th China Academy Awards for Documentary Film (CAADF) in Beijing and created the score for the unique hand-made animated movie ‘NYsferatu: Symphony of a Century’ featuring Bisan Toron on vocals.
Simone composed music for the series ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘What We do in the Shadows’, ’Blindspot’ and many others.
He has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as an arranger and a musician performing at the O2 Arena in London to a sold-out audience of 22,000 for Andrea Bocelli's concert during his "Cinema" tour. Simone has worked with different artists in the past two decades: Andrea Bocelli, Wu-Tang Clan, Cibo Matto, Yuka Honda, Groove Collective, Jovanotti, Monday Michiru, Miho Hatori & New Optimism, Nels Cline (Wilco), Louie Vega (Masters At Work), Jamie Catto (1 Giant Leap), Suzie Katayama (Prince, Bjork), Natalie Williams (Incognito), Lévon Minassian (Peter Gabriel) and many more.
Simone is the Artistic Director of Yangchenma Arts & Music and the co-founder and Director of Programs of MOMENT NYC, a music education program presenting the history of music in New York City through live performances and music workshops in public and private schools. He's a contributing author to the book The Spiritual Significance of Music, published by Xtreme Music (New Zealand, 2011).
“I see the voice as a multifaceted instrument that can bridge inner emotion and sound, communicating an array of nuanced textures. As a soloist, I emphasize the female voice as carrier of lineage and invoker of the new.”
— Bisan Toron
Photo by Tony Herbas