“The Strangers’ Case,” A Far Cry’s 2025-2026 closer, featuring Karim Sulayman, tenor, “…explored the emotional, material and social ramifications of loss and displacement.” The Criers’ Saturday concert at Jordan Hall opened with a potpourri of short pieces, beginning with three by Handel: Largo from Concerto Grosso in B flat Major , Op 6 no 7; “Where ‘er you walk” from Semele, and “Và dal furor portata” from Ezio. Mary Kouyoumdjian’s (b. 1983): Tagh (Diary) of an Immigrant (2013) the preceded two more Handel selections: “Convey me to some peaceful shore” from Alexander Balus, and “Waft her, angels” from Jephtha. The instrumental pieces offered studies in contrasts between a stately and dignified Largo and the anxiety of the Diary of an Immigrant. Through accurate pitch, rhythmic precision and unified articulation the orchestra conveyed Diary’s nervous and apprehensive forward motion. The short, pulsating notes of the opening eventually gave way to a sustained rhythm, but even then, the tranquility left us unsettled.

In the four arias extracted from Handel’s operas and oratorios, Sulayman’s affinity for Handel’s long, singable lines, excellent enunciation, and easy command informed the visions of the composer, which ranged from the solace of nature’s beauty to the comforts of heaven.

The dream-like atmosphere of Dvořák’s Nocturne in B Major, Op. 40 provided a respite from sorrow. A seven-minute, freestanding piece for string orchestra, it opens with a rising scale played pianissimo in the celli and basses. Violins take over the principal thematic material at measure 5 and continue in that role till almost the end of the piece. We reveled in A Far Cry’s mastery of orchestral color, the lower strings dark and somber, the violins sweet and lovely. Eighth notes grouped in three stretched across barlines, while the orchestra’s subtle use of rubato allowed the music to breathe and flow. The piece ends ppp with a melodic dialogue between celli and violins.

After the intermission we heard The Strangers’ Case: Songs and Chronicles of the Immigrant Experience, for Tenor and String Orchestra, composed in 2024 by Karim Al-Zand (b. 1970).

“Lady in the Harbor” uses two texts from Hamilton Holt’s 1906 account “The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans as Told By Themselves.” Both describe the hardships of the transatlantic voyage in steerage and the sentiments of the travelers when they first set eyes on the Statue of Liberty. The piece opens with slow, rocking half steps in the violins, accompanied by held notes in the violas and diminished fourths in the celli. The listener expects that the calm is transitory. It gives way to anxious and agitated pizzicatos in the violins and glissandi in the lower strings at which point the tenor soloist describes the journey “we came by steerage”… “on a steamship that smelt dreadfully.”

By following the composer’s articulations, dynamics and tempo directives with exactitude, the players effectively portrayed fear and anxiety. Sulayman’s exclamatory and excited singing added to the emotional instability. The evocation of suffering gives way to dreaminess at the arrival in the harbor. The mood is tranquil and gentle, but hardly joyous. Arpeggios in the violins go from pp to fff within one measure, evoking the overwhelming sensation of arriving in the port of New York.

“Who Can Pity My Loneliness” takes the listener inside Angel Island, a detention center near San Francisco. The orchestral sound is sharp and spikey, while the despondency of the prisoner is communicated through short vocal phrases. The bird sounds outside the prison seem to provide moments of respite, but the tragedy which befell the protagonist cannot be escaped. At the close, the orchestra fell short, not, as indicated, slowing the tempo or reaching a true pianissimo that would have conveyed the misfortune.

Slow and arduous of mood, “Whither Would You Go?” asks listeners to put themselves in the place of the refugee. The orchestra and tenor met the demands of the song’s climax (“ Would you be pleased to find a nation of such barbarous temper”) effectively, crescendoing to a strong ff and without losing focus or passion, dropping to pp as the piece ended. “The Stranger Within My Gat” followed without a break. Descending fourths, polyrhythms and half steps devolding into mystery and hesitation, ultimately turn into terror (“Wide open and unguarded stand our gates) on the part of the host country. “They Came From Terror and Tumult” also taken attacca, evoked terror on the part of the host country, now transformed into the terror experienced by the refugee (“fleeing the bombed provinces..”). When Sulayman sung of “everything that is saved” the ensemble came together perfectly, communicating a reverence that gave the subject its due.

The orchestra displayed its mastery of texture at the beginning of “Exile.” Two-note phrases in the violins sighed deeply. When paired with the resonant pizzicati of the lower strings, the effect achieved pathos and sadness. Here we grapple with the separation from loved ones that immigration imposes. In ”When Dawn Comes to the City,” slow, plodding strings combined with jarring vocal lines alluded to tenement life. The soloist’s stark sound and excellent diction brought the harsh reality of New York City life.

“The Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, AD 2900,” written around 1900 by Arthur Wheelock Upson, describes the collapse of an immigrant-tolerant nation. It closes with gently rising thirds that lead directly into the final song, with text by Emily Dickinson, “These Strangers, in a Foreign World.” Rocking motion in the violins recalls that heard at the opening of the first song, but here it is played with serenity and tenderness. Sulayman, singing almost in a trance, reminded us to “Befriend them, lest yourself in heaven Be found a refugee”

The audience absorbed the message, then applauded enthusiastically. In keeping with their egalitarian practices, the Criers took their bows together, no player being called out individually. Sulayman took one modest bow on his own, then joined the group. This listener did not miss the cheering sometimes heard at other orchestral concerts. However, I do request that A Far Cry’s written program list the order of players in each section for each piece, so that attendees can identify them. That minor criticism aside, we all enjoyed a wonderful concert.

Retired medical biology researcher Dinah Bodkin is a serious amateur pianist and mother of Groupmuse founder Sam Bodkin.