This program presents a powerful exploration of defiance through music. Reza Vali’s Folk Songs Set No. 11b for string quartet transforms Persian folk themes into a contemporary voice of resistance. Though his work is banned and censored in Iran, Vali bravely preserves and celebrates his cultural heritage while thriving as a composer in the United States. Similarly, Sofia Gubaidulina’s Garten von Freuden und Traurigkeiten for flute, viola, and harp embodies spiritual defiance. Marginalized in the Soviet Union for her deeply religious music, Gubaidulina remains unwavering in her artistic vision, channeling both joy and sorrow into a profound musical testament. Andre Jolivet’s Chant de Linos (1944) responds to the devastation of World War II with a lament that moves between intense outbursts and introspective mourning. This work embodies a defiant remembrance—honoring victims while asserting the enduring power of artistic expression amid suffering. Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 6 (1939), composed as war loomed over Europe, fuses modernist innovation with folk elements to confront fear and uncertainty with unflinching emotional honesty, standing as a bold statement of creative survival.