History and Violins

Palestinian women find new freedoms with art (The Melia Art Center)

2009-08-04T09:02:00.001-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/08/art-and-womens-rights-in-palestinian.html

Palestinian embroidery has been an artform practiced by women in the area for hundreds of years. But recently it has taken on new importance for women in villages in the West Bank- it has become the primary form of economic support for their families and has given these women new liberties that were inconceivable only a few decades ago, while supporting an isolated artform that was on the verge of dying out.

The Arab Orthodox Society is one of the oldest women's organizations in Jerusalem, and has been responsible for many services for people here, including free health care. "About twenty years ago we really began to take notice of the elaborate embroidery of the women from villages that came to the clinic," said Malo Zakarian. "We began to think that maybe we could use this to generate income for the women."

The Melia Art and Training center was established to train women in the art of native embroidery and to sell the work of these women in Jerusalem. They now have 550 women working from home with the Society from villages around the West Bank like Deir as-Sudan and cities like Hebron.

Setting up the organization had some difficulties, not least of which was the conservative Muslim culture of many of the women. In these villages it was inconceivable that women would serve as breadwinners, which was primarily a male role. "The husbands would restrict their wives. They would say that the women couldn't go out of the house, that they would take the embroidery to Jerusalem, things like that."

But Zakarian notes the changes that have occurred since the center was established. In the last few years, unemployment has skyrocketed in the West Bank as former job opportunities in Israel were closed off due to new restrictions on travel. As a result, women in villages now have the new role of being primary income earners for their families, which has come with new social liberties. "The women have gone so far forward you wouldn't believe it. Their dress, their confidence, their attitude, it's progressed so much."

But also importantly the Union has become a place where women, across economic and religious lines, can gather and talk freely about issues in their lives. "They are all very comfortable here talking with other women. There is no division between Muslim and Christian between us."

note- While this is not directly about classical music, it is about cultural development. And I couldn't pass a story like this.

Parade through Downtown Ramallah

2009-07-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

Al-Kamandjati recently put on a parade through downtown Ramallah to garner publicity for its upcoming concerts that it is doing with collaboration with an Italian music association. The idea of the parade was interesting to me because the dynamics are much different from a concert; a parade stops traffic, interrupts work, and basically throws music into the community's face. I was kind of interested to see the reaction.

Unsurprisingly to me at this point, the Ramallah community really seemed to enjoy the interruption. People stepped out of work to see the parade, fathers lifted their children onto their shoulders so they could get a better look, people were even dancing to the music. Here are a few pictures.

Birth of a Palestinian Violin

2009-07-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Shehade Shalade's road to becoming the first Palestinian violinmaker is maybe an unlikely one. Living in a region where classical music is small but rapidly growing, Shehade, 18, was fortunate to have the al-Kamandjati music school established next door to his house in Ramallah in the West Bank. "I had always been interested in fixing things, like doors, windows and chairs," he says. Ramzi Aburedwan, the founder of al-Kamandjati, saw Shehade's potential and asked him if he would like to work with musical instruments.

Shehade was at first interested in the oud, a Arabic plucked instrument similar to the guitar, and later moved to violin. He concurrently started working in the workshop that al-Kamandjati set up for instrument repair a few meters away from the school. Al-Kamandjati is fortunate to have a large amount of foreign expertise coming to assist the school, and Shehade was able to study with technicians who taught him how to repair string instruments and bows.

In 2008 his teacher, Gianlucco Negroponte, advised him to study in Italy in order to learn the art of violinmaking. Shehade began studying in Italy in July and by September had finished his first violin, which he uses himself. "It was difficult but I was so happy when I finished. Palestine has never had a violin-maker before."

Shehade has recently been working on a second violin, which he will give to Ramzi to showcase around Europe. He has been working on this model for a month, and will need about two more weeks before it is completed.

In September Shehade will be going to London to study instrument making for three years. Afterward he plans to come back to Palestine and teach children here violinmaking and instrument repair.

I asked him what the community around him thinks of his work. "At first they were hesitant. Nobody does something like this here, doing this type of job. I told them that I want to try, because it is something I love."

"We have a deep role in the evolution of the community and its coherence"- Palestinian Ministry of Culture

2009-07-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-have-deep-role-in-evolution-of.html

I was able to go to the Ministry of Culture of the Palestinian Authority and speak with Muawia Tahboub, spokesman for the ministry.

What is the cultural infrastructure for Palestinians currently like?

MoC: Palestine is an emerging state. The Palestinian community lacks an extensive infrastructure for the arts, and it is one of our priorities is to build an arts infrastructure, especially in remote areas. We have projects to build cultural compounds in all Palestinian governerates, including Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Gaza, and Hebron. We do this in partnership with local governerates and village councils, who donate the land to us and take responsibilities of covering running costs. These communities have all been very cooperative in building this infrastructure. Running these centers require training, so recently we have been taking in experts from abroad and sending Palestinians abroad to learn these management skills.

What resources does the Ministry offer to the Palestinian community?

MoC: We offer scholarships in music, cultural administration, technical aspects, really all artistic aspects. They are available to all Palestinians and we announce them through newspapers. We also have the Palestinian Cultural Fund, which aims to support all cultural and artistic initiatives by submitted by institutes or individual here in Palestine. One of the major goals of the Fund is to build an institutional relationship with artistic NGOs in Palestine.

This year we had about 100 cultural projects being supported by the Ministry, including the Edward Said Conservatory, the al-Housh center in Jerusalem, which works with plastic arts. We also supported cultural activities in the Gaza Municipality and worked with building libraries and community centers in rural areas of the West Bank. We supported dance groups, theater plays, singing activities, a wide variety of fields in all governates.

We also featured an international book fair in October, in which all countries are invited to take part. It embodies our goal to build strong ties and cultural exchange with friendly countries.

What are some difficulties currently facing the Ministry?

MoC: As a new emerging state, the financial situation is very difficult. We get a little money from the Palestinian Authority. We recently had large donations from Norway, which donated 1.5 million dollars to us, and Sweden which is partnering with us in a major project with children's literature.

What is the situation like in Gaza for the Ministry?

MoC: In Gaza our resources were confiscated by Hamas. Our work is still continuing there, but on a smaller scale. We are still able to fund activities through the Palestinian Cultural Fund, which Hamas has let continue until the current time.

Does the MoC have a particular perspective on the Israeli occupation?

MoC: As a part of the Cabinet of the Palestinian government, we all wish to reach a peaceful end to this occupation through negotiation. It is true for everyone that we suffer a lot of difficulties; not just cultural, but daily troubles.

Continuity between all geographic places in Palestine is the major difficulty. For example now we have the cultural event "Jerusalem Our Capital- 2009." We cannot implement major events in East Jerusalem, maybe a few events here and there, but for the major events the Israeli soldiers and policemen forbid anyone to be even in the location of the event. It is the Israeli belief that all of Jerusalem is united under their rule.

How does the MoC support classical music in Palestine?

MoC: We had a meeting with an Italian group last month and we agreed that the Palestinian music field lacks for classical music teachers. I think we will reach an agreement to have Italian university scholarships for Palestinians to study classical music in order to teach here in Palestine. The program aims to create classical music teachers. The MoC and the arts directorate are really interested in this field of music.

It's a matter of putting this type of music in this country and getting them familiar with it; this is the first step. We feel that in Palestine there should be a significant knowledge of all arts of the world, including classical music. Along with the NGOs like al-Kamandjati and the Edward Said Conservatory we are trying to build the audience here, and the audence is growing.

What is the Ministry's vision for the next few years and beyond?

MoC: In the last three or four months we have been involved in a capacity building project with Birzeit University, in which we drafted a strategy for growth in the next five years with the assistance of the other ministries and intellectuals from the Palestinian cultural sector. These strategies say that in order to have coherence- to have a role in development in economic and social development in the Palestinian community we need to widen our role so we can avoid what happened in Gaza. One of our major priorities is to support and strengthen our shared cultural identity, to avoid these kinds of conflicts within the community.

Our major belief is that we have a deep role in the evolution of the community; in the coherence between all parts of it. And we have a role in supporting their cultural identity in view of an openness with all peoples in all the world.

Premiere Opera in Ramallah- "The Story Behind the Tale"

2009-07-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

The newly adapted opera "The Story Behind the Tale" premiered this week in Ramallah. The opera was a production of the Barenboim-Said Foundation, one of the three major music foundations in Ramallah and the West Bank as a whole. In making the opera they adapted music from various works by J.C Arriaga and set it to a brand new libretto in Arabic. It was quite an elaborate setting and production, and was free of charge to the public. Here are some pictures.

"We are Muslims. God created us to have good lives, not to stop it." Wafa Younis, music teacher and conductor

2009-07-14T11:09:00.002-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-are-muslims-god-created-us-to-have.html

I was in the Jenin Refugee Camp sitting with a group of children, waiting for the arrival of their music teacher, Wafa Younis. As the taxi pulled up the children sprang up and ran towards it, yelling and laughing, waiting for their turn to hug and greet her. "This is my family, here in the Jenin Camp," Wafa explained to me. "I love them so much and they love me back."

Wafa was recently a reluctant star in the international news after her group from Jenin gave a short performance to a group of elderly Holocaust survivors in Holon, Israel. The performance caused turmoil in the Jenin Camp that resulted in the local leadership temporarily shutting down her student group. "When a newswriter from Jenin called me to tell me that there was a problem I laughed," she said. "I made no mistake. They are old people we played for. I am not playing music for (Israeli defense minister) Ehud Barak or (Israeli President) Shimon Peres. But I am ready to play music for people in pain."

Wafa grew up in Israel in the Arab village of 'Ara, and went to high school in Haifa, where she was the only Arab studying amongst Jews. After graduating she became a music teacher, the first in the Wadi 'Ara (the area surrounding the village). During the early years she worked with 40 children in a class for eight hours a day. "My head hurt a lot," she says.

In March 2003, a suicide bombing in the Haifa restaurant "Mattsa" took the life of the husband of a Jewish friend, Paula Yeroshalmy. "I can't tell you how strong the relationship between me and her is. It was such a tragedy."

Wafa learned that the suicide bomber came from the Jenin Camp, and decided that she would begin building a school here. "We are Muslims. God created us to have good lives, not to stop it. It wasn't like this in all the history of Islam."

"We Palestinians want our country. We have to fight for it, but not by taking lives. We can do it through music, talks, meetings, but not bombing."

She spent 40,000 dollars of her own money on the project after receiving no help from either the Israelis or Palestinians. After building the orchestra and putting on concerts inside Israel she received more attention and was able to receive donations of violins from private donors and universities. She now teaches 40 children in the Jenin Refugee Camp as part of her orchestra, "Strings of Freedom." Continuing to run the group is a difficult task, as she explains, given the difficulties of funding for renting space for rehearsals and acquiring new violins in addition. There is little money left, she says.

Wafa has also been working on three books for children. One of them, "Children for Peace," interviews 60 children, including Palestinian children in Israeli jails, about their thoughts on peace in the region. Another is a book of songs in Hebrew and Arabic, and she was able to get permission from Yoko Ono to use a Beatles song in it. The last contains musical settings of poetry written by Palestinian poets, "None of the poetry talks badly about Israel," she says. "They just reflect on their sadness on losing their homes and land."

Her immediate plans for the future involve building up the orchestra, which she needs new violins for. In the long-term she hopes to build a music academy in Jenin. "I want these children to be the first Palestinian music teachers in the West Bank," she says. Convincing the PA Minister of Education to mandate music teaching in Palestinian schools is a part of her mission.

"It bothers me so much that Israel says that the Palestinians are terrorists. I have been here in Jenin for seven years. I want to tell the world that the truth is not being told. Jenin isn't just Kalishnakovs. It is music as well."

Al-Kamandjati Summer Camp 2009, al-Fara'a, the West Bank (part 2)

2009-07-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/07/al-kamandjati-summer-camp-2009-al-faraa.html

The al-Kamandjati Summer Music Days camp came to a close a few days ago. As the camp went on we got a chance to see more and more of the students performing, which was wonderful.

I had a chance to interview Peter Sulski, the artistic director of the summer camp. Sulski started coming to the Middle East with the Apple Hill Chamber Players in 1996 and became Ramzi Aburedwan's teacher and friend. "It's been an incredible ride," he says about the experience.

"I think the summer camp is an incredible social opportunity to be around each other and to have lots of role models even for five full days.. to experience a real bump up in their growth. It's a chance for them to feel really legitimate in the field of music. As a student even in america you can feel outside the culture of music."

The first picture here is one of the students performing Dowland's "Flow my Teares".

One of the popular workshops was the oriental percussion workshop, which had 10-15 children performing on native Arab drums.

Ramzi Aburedwan, the founder of al-Kamandjati, plays oud and drums in addition to the viola; here is him performing for the children.

Robert "Dobbs" Hartshone has been coming to the West Bank for the last twenty years giving performances for children here, as he does around the world in other places like Afghanistan. He performed a Bach cello suite and a narrated piece in Arabic about a beaver that falls in love with a tree. The kids loved it.

The final concert was very long and had performances by nearly every child. The orchestra performed a arrangement of the slow movement from Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

The last piece was a song from Pink Floyd's album "The Wall."

The experience was very educational for the teachers as well. Drew Balch, a native of London and the viola teacher, talked about his experiences with the people here. "It's the one thing you can't really be told in stories in the media. Now I've met these people face to face, heard their stories and I've become involved in their stories now, and it's just so much more real."

Al-Kamandjati Summer Camp 2009, al-Fara'a, the West Bank (part 1)

2009-06-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/al-kamandjati-summer-camp-2009-al-faraa.html

One of the seminal teaching events for al-Kamandjati of the year is their summer camp, which is a seven-day music festival for their students around the West Bank. Due to the difficulties of moving students from one town to another, this is a chance for all the students to meet and perform with each other. The camp is taking place in the village of al-Fara'a, close to the city of Nablus.

The mornings involve private lessons for all the students. Many volunteer teachers from all over the world came to teach in the summer camp on various instruments.

There are two orchestras in the camp; a junior orchestra made up of string students, and a full orchestra made up of the more advanced players.

Here's me teaching clarinet to one of my students. I'm also teaching composition to a few students; for the younger ones I am teaching them basic writing skills and for the older ones I'm trying to introduce them to counterpoint and tonal harmony.

During the afternoons we have a choir session where the students can all sing together. This is us right before we all sang a song by the famous Arab singer Fayrouz. We also have afternoon outdoor concerts made of up performances by children and faculty.

During the afternoon they have several workshops they can get involved in, including composition, notation, improvisation, and so on.

It's really interesting to see how contemporary classical music is fitting into this; we're doing this piece called "Self-Portrait" which involves a set of boxes on stage with notes on them; it's a bit hard to explain. We're also doing Riley's "In C" and Reich's "Clapping Music."

Here's the improvisation workshop. The children took to it really quickly!

There are also small chamber groups involved in performances.

One of the centerpieces of the al-Kamandjati program is the Oriental Ensemble, a group of performers playing on native Palestinian instruments. The group has been essential in bridging the gap between Western classical music and Palestinians; it was interesting to see that they teach the children Palestinian songs in solfege. Here's them performing at one of the nightly concerts.

The faculty is involved with performances- here's a few playing the Mozart Flute Quartet.

More next time.

Concert in the al-Amari Refugee Camp

2009-06-23T01:38:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/concert-in-al-amari-refugee-camp.html

I had originally planned to do a bigger report but that will have to wait until later. Yesterday the teachers of al-Kamandjati gave a concert in the al-Amari Refugee Camp, which is walking distance from the school. Like many refugee camps, al-Amari suffers from overcrowding and poor services; and like poorer areas in general it has a high birthrate and a large number of children.

Ramzi Aburedwan, the founder of the al-Kamandjati school, is himself a native of the al-Amari camp. He was lucky enough to be able to study violin at the Edward Said National Conservatory, which led to more training in France. After al-Kamandjati was set up in Ramallah he installed an auxillary school in al-Amari where teachers can train refugee children as well as give performances.

The concert was packed with children, many of whom have little to do during the summer months. Here are a few pictures.

Puccini gets a standing ovation in Nablus

2009-06-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/puccini-gets-standing-ovation-in-nablus.html

As one of the more conservative Muslim areas of the West Bank, the city of Nablus may not be a place to expect an opera, let alone one with plenty of wine-drinking and skirts. But Puccini's opera "La Boheme" premiered here tonight to a packed crowd in the An-Najah University, put on by the touring Choir of London. I was really interested in seeing the opera here, since the social dynamics of Nablus are really different from that in Ramallah or Bethlehem.

The opera was entirely in Italian, but had the addition of a narration in Arabic at the beginning of the acts by Saleh Bakri, a famous Palestinian actor who may have been responsible for drawing a lot of the crowd. It definitely helped to keep attention focused on the scene.

The crowd seemed like it was from a fairly wide spectrum, with many from the college-age crowd as well as families bringing their children. I was half-expecting that the parts of the opera might cause some offense in the crowd, like when the dying Mimi's shoes were pointed directly at the audience (traditionally disrespectful in Arab culture).

But of course I was wrong. The crowd gave them a raucous standing ovation at the end which was really touching to see.

Some more of Nablus.

"Music is something human...it's essential." Heather Bursheh, musical director of the ESNCM

2009-06-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/music-is-something-humanits-essential.html

The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music is the oldest music education program in the Palestinian territories and perhaps the most established. It has centers in Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, in addition to auxillary partner centers in Jericho, Nablus, and refugee camps.

I was able to sit down with Heather Bursheh, the musical director of the ESNCM, and talk with her about her experience in the West Bank. Bursheh is a native of Scotland and was educated in the Royal Northern College in Manchester. After graduating she was confronted with the idea of entering the freelance performance scene, but she found herself wanting to see the world. She heard about a job teaching flute in Palestine, an area which she knew little about. "I just thought, well, it can't be as bad as everyone says it is if it has a music school."

Her duties involve auditioning students, choosing repertoire and conductors and the overall coordination of the program, which includes several large ensembles for Palestinian children to perform in: a children's orchestra in Jerusalem for those with two to three years of performing experience, the ESNCM Orchestra with advanced students, a wind band, and the Palestine Youth Orchestra.

The Palestine Youth Orchestra is comprised of Palestinian children not only from the West Bank, but from Israel and the broader diaspora in Syria, Jordan, the United States and even Honduras. The conservatory takes pride in the way that it brings Palestinians together. "The events leading up to and after the creation of the state of Israel led to a situation in which there are Palestinians who have never even seen their homeland or met Palestinians living in Palestine.

Everyone talks about how we need to bring Israelis and Palestinians together. Well, we need Palestinians to see other Palestinians. It's their country. It's their cause. For us it's absolutely vital."

Bursheh described the ways in which the conservatory tries to capture the attention of the Palestinian community. "If you sit back and do nothing, the people that come to you are middle class, more liberal, and fairly well off. We try as well to get into other segments." It hasn't been easy, for both socioeconomic and cultural reasons. "Some people are in a situation which is more deprived and don't have music in their first kind of vision. Others have a view that music is something that is not quite okay." But she notes that these problems are faced in many places in the world.

When introducing the conservatory to new people, they focus as much on indigenous music as much as possible. "It is one less barrier to have a Palestinian teaching in familiar sounds and scales than to jump into learning the clarinet." They also take their professional and advanced students to play educational concerts around the West Bank to give a better idea of what they do.

The environment of military occupation has placed additional difficulties at the school. "99.9 percent of our problems come from the occupation." She gave me a common example for many organizations in the West Bank: work permits. International staff have to come on 3 month tourist visas; at the end of the term they must exit the country and return with the hope that they will get a visa reissued. "In 2006, during the Lebanon War, Israel imposed a blanket ban on people entering the West Bank. So if any of our teachers told the truth of where they were going they were instantly denied entry." Bursheh herself was denied entry for a period of nine months, despite being married to a Palestinian.

Another problem has been the restriction of movement of students between branches due to military checkpoints. "Trying to get them together is like climbing Everest." As a result they have intensive three-day camps during holidays instead of regularly scheduled rehearsals, one of which concluded in Bier Zeit today. "If they're two hours late to a camp it's not a disaster," she reasons.

Bursheh believes that the ESNCM has broad social importance. "It is very much a national Palestinian institution, and it's important for us to be perceived as this. It becomes important for students, to strengthen their sense of identity.

I think it is important for music to grow. It is a human activity in all societies over the world. It's something human, it's something we all do. It's essential."

Edward Said Conservatory Summer Camp- Birzeit

2009-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/edward-said-conservatory-summer-camp.html

I'm a little drained to do a fuller writeup on what I've seen and heard from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music so I will try and do so tomorrow. But I visited their three-day summer camp, which is taking place in Birzeit, a village a few kilometers from Ramallah. I wanted to post a few pictures, because it's quite amazing and the people there are great.

The mural outside the school is incredible. I really need to get a bigger camera lens.

The summer camp is an orchestra program; they're doing arrangements of the William Tell Overture and Finlandia.

They have a larger summer camp in July so hopefully I will be able to see more of them.

From Alabama to Ramallah

2009-06-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/from-alabama-to-ramallah.html

Ramallah is fortunate compared to other locations in the West Bank due to its proximity to Jerusalem and the passage into Israel proper, which means that it receives a good deal of international visitors and artists. Featured this morning at the Beit al-Hiya al-Jadid (the Home of New Life) was the Voices of Mobile, a choir from the University of Mobile in Alabama. I was told last week by Rev. Munir Salim Kakish about the performance and was very interested in seeing them.

The religious service was very similar to what I have seen in some evangelical churches in America, following Rev. Kakish's education in New York. Raised arms, intermittent "amens" from the audience, congregational singing of hymns replete with lyrics projected on a screen via Powerpoint were all features of the service, which was delivered mostly in Arabic but with some English for international visitors.

The choir was able to set up the tour through familial connections according to Alan Miller, the associate dean for the Center of Performing Arts in the University of Mobile. After visiting Jordan and Israel they were wrapping up their tour in the West Bank, and then going to perform in Paris. While at the church they sang such hymns as "I Surrender All," and appropriately for the West Bank, "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho."

I was able to speak with a few of the choir members after the concert. One of them, Maggie, talked enthusiastically about her shared religious experience with Arabs. "We're singing the same song but not in the same language and it's incredible to worship the same God with these people. I love them and would love to learn Arabic so I could have conversations with them."

Another choir member, Britney, said that she had gained a heightened awareness of relations between religions. "I think for me the growth of Islam in America is very intense, and I've become more aware of Islam." I asked her to elaborate. "There is so much of it here...and just...I pray for the Christians here, and for Jerusalem and for peace. Because we as Americans just don't understand the tension here." She was disputed by the Rev. Kakish, who doesn't believe there are such problems between the Muslim and Christian communities here.

Miller said that the choir has been appreciative of the sincerity and graciousness of Palestinian Christians, though there hasn't been much interaction between the choir and people here. "Americans are spoiled, we have too much, we choke on our blessings. We come to the Holy Land and see these people who are so gracious. It just helps us to take our music inward even more."

"La bohème" in Jerusalem

2009-06-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/la-boheme-in-jerusalem.html

As I might have mentioned before, the Choir of London has come to West Bank to do a tour of performances, including Brahms's German Requiem and Puccini's opera "La Boheme."

A group of girls from the al-Kamandjati school are taking part in a scene of the opera which is really exciting. The rehearsal today was in East Jerusalem, and as I saw first-hand, getting past Israeli restrictions can be extremely difficult. In addition to the difficulties of acquiring permits for visitation, these permits can be summarily refused at the checkpoint.

Here was the group trying to get the permits and papers all together. The children had to bring a copy of their birth certificates in order to prove that they were under the age of 15, which would technically allow them free(r) passage.

In the end 3 of the 15 girls were refused entry into Israel and had to go back home.

The rehearsal was really great to see. Here are a few pictures from the rehearsal.

Also the time in Jerusalem offered me a chance to see one of the major things that I did not see last year.

"We were a foreign body entering the Old City." An interview with the executive director of Al-Kamandjati

2009-06-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Celine Dagher, Executive Director of the al-Kamandjati, has been associated with the music school since 2005 when she moved to Ramallah. The wife of al-Kamandjati founder Ramzi Abuderwan, she is also a brand new mother; she gave birth to a boy, Hussein Abuderwan, last night.

Her duties at al-Kamandjati include the overall administration of the school, not limited to coordinating teachers, fundraising, public relations, contacts with other music assocations, and links abroad. Efficient coordination is essential given the breadth of the school's work, as it operates in three refugee camps- Al-Amari, Jalazoon, and Qalandia- as well as various villages and cities, such as Jenin, Tulkarem, and Deir Ghassaneh.

She first met Ramzi at a 2005 concert in France featuring his band. She read some information on the organization, which he founded in France in 2002, and joined with him as they made the move to Ramallah. "Seeing the truck arrive with two tons of instruments was the most exciting part," she says. "As well as seeing the center being built from empty walls to a music school."

The initial reception from the Palestinian community was very positive, she says. "Before we founded the school we spent a lot of time making workshops and concerts across the West Bank. It helped us build links with communities and existing institutions and let them get to know us better."

Dagher says the initial reaction to the opening of the school was curiosity and enthusiasm. "We were a foreign body entering the Old City of Ramallah, which is a very close place where everyone knows each other." But people quickly became used to it. "Children began to come to the school just because they were interested and wanted to see."

Attracting students was a very natural process and required very little additional advertising or campaigning. "At the beginning the children would enroll themselves because they were so interested." So many students were interested that there is now a waiting list of 600 children waiting to receive instruction at the school.

I asked her about the arson in the al-Kamandjati center in Jenin, which gutted the building and made international news. The center was quickly repainted and reopened. "It was disappointing. All of our students there are very motivated and dedicated, and it was hard to understand why it happened." But she says that they never believed that it was an expression of community disapproval. "We only think it was the work of individuals."

I asked her to briefly touch on the relationship with the school to Israel. "There seems to be a communication wall between what happens here and in Israel. I don't think so many people in Israel are aware of us, compared to those abroad."

I finally asked her about what she thinks about al-Kamandjati in the broader social context of Palestine. "I like to present al-Kamandjati as a music school, and it will bring what music will bring to any child. We are in the special context of occupation, and it might bring more to a child here than elsewhere. I think if you talk to the children here they might say that music gives them a lot of power, and it helps them to be proud of their identity and culture.

"We live next to our students and see them daily. It is very rewarding to see how they change and evolve."

What happens when your clarinet breaks in Mozambique?

2009-06-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-happens-when-your-clarinet-breaks.html

For budding musicians in developing regions, acquiring an instrument only goes so far. Eventually its keys or valves will become stiff, strings will break and leaks will develop. This is in addition to the inevitable acciden

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ts that will occur in a child's hands. For many children around the world, this damage can be devastating if there are no replacement parts and qualified technicians in the vicinity to help with repairs. This is where people like Pierre Helou come in.

Helou is a native of France and is employed by The Music Fund, a Belgian non-governmental organization that provides instrument repair services and new instruments to children in partner schools located in the West Bank, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Helou at work on one of al-Kamandjati's oboes

After we discussed the condition of the oboes at al-Kamandjati, I was able to talk with him about the general nature of his work.

Helou has been in the employ of The Music Fund for the last year. During his vacation time he has travelled to Ramallah in the West Bank and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. An instrumental technician for seven years with a speciality in wind instruments, he has seen the difficulties that music programs in developing regions face.

"At the school in Kinshasa they had no workshop for repairing wind instruments," he explained. "So we had to install and develop a new workshop there."

The biggest issue for repairing instruments in the areas that he works in is a lack of viable equipment. "Corks and pads wear easily over time and need to be replaced regularly. They can be difficult to find in places."

Helou noted the differences between working in Kinshasa and Ramallah. "With al-Kamandjati in Ramallah we have a running workshop so the work becomes much easier. The trick is making do with what you have in the place you are."

...denn ihre Werke folgen ihnen nach

2009-06-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/denn-ihre-werke-folgen-ihnen-nach.html

The first major project of the summer for al-Kamandjati is the Summer Music Days Festival, in which they are putting on 100(!) concerts of classical all across the West Bank in 10(!) days. The Choir of London will be coming as guests to Ramallah, and they will combine with a group of Palestinians to sing Brahms's German Requiem. Quite a few of the vocalist students in al-Kamandjati are involved in this; as anyone who knows about classical music would realize the fact that any teenager can keep up with this piece is remarkable!

I was invited by the singing teacher at al-Kamandjati, Julia, to go to the rehearsal of the piece at Bethlehem University in Bethlehem. Instead of just standing there recording the rehearsal and taking pictures I decided to sing along with the bass part, which turned out to be fine because the rest of the choir was sight-reading as well. The priest leading the choir agreed to let me do an interview with him next week so I could get more details on his history with the choir.

I will also be performing the Vaughan Williams songs for oboe and soprano, and maybe other pieces. The last few days have also been spent reorganizing the library, and I found that it is amazingly extensive; all the major pieces of the solo repertoire for all instruments are present as well as a huge number of orchestra pieces. I'm continually impressed with the resources of al-Kamandjati and the way that they are able to operate.

I have a few interviews coming up in the next few days which I will post writeups of as they happen.

Adeste, fideles, Laeti triumphantes, Venite, venite in Bethlehem

2009-06-05T01:31:00.001-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/adeste-fideles-laeti-triumphantes.html

While I would prefer that this blog avoid the more contentious political issues around the area, I think that it is important for people to get a general idea of the topography of the West Bank in order to better understand the specific topic of music within it. Yesterday I went from Ramallah to Bethlehem, and I think that the road connecting the two cities encapsulates a lot of characteristics of the West Bank.

Much of the West Bank, like Ramallah here, is covered in hills.

You might not be able to pick it out, but in the background is Jerusalem. Ramallah (and Bethlehem) are both in very close proximity to Jerusalem.

Qalandia, one of the main checkpoints outside Ramallah, with passage into Israel proper.

Like other traditionally nomadic peoples, the Bedouins have had difficulty assimilating into modern urban life; many like these live on the roadsides in what are basically metal boxes.

An Israeli checkpoint on the road.

Ma'ale Adumim, an Israeli settlement. The growth of the settlements are currently a hot topic in the news.

A common question that I've got is "what is the scariest part of being in the West Bank," because the impression is that it is much more dangerous than it actually is. If I had to answer, I would say this part of the road, the aptly named "Wadi Nar" or "Valley of Fire." Imagine an extremely steep road, with many curves, with a good deal of traffic from older cars that are bound to break down at any time. This is the Wadi Nar.

The view from the top, however, is very rewarding.

Bethlehem. I didn't get any pictures of the Church of the Nativity this time but I'm bound to go back so I'll get pictures there later.

Bethlehem University, a traditionally Christian school in the West Bank. There is some wonderful Christian artwork here as in all across Bethlehem.

(the last image was HDR processed). Hopefully not too many of these image-blast pictures in the future unless there is more interest in it. If anyone wants pictures of particular things let me know.

Yara Qwareeq

2009-06-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

http://historyviolins.blogspot.com/2009/06/yara-qwareeq-al-kamandjati-music-school.html

Like other students at the al-Kamandjati music school in Ramallah, Yara Qwareeq arrives for her weekly lesson and recieves a regimen of instruction in scales, finger technique, and other piano essentials. However, Yara is unique in a very particular way: she is completely blind.

Yara (center), teacher Grassi (left), mother Samahir (right)

Yara is one of 300 music students across the West Bank receiving instruction from the al-Kamandjati music school, one of the few serving Palestinian students. Giacomo Grassi, her teacher of eight months, said that the initial challenge was to orient Yara to the sound of the keyboard. "At the beginning it was especially important to get her to hear the sound of octaves, fourths and fifths." Then came work with rhythmic imitation, and differentiating between black and white keys.

A typical lesson for Yara involves a great deal of imitation, as Grassi plays out rhythmic patterns or scales and she follows. To learn technique she places her hand on top of Grassi's in order to conceptualize its shape. She is also allowed to improvise melodies over harmonies played by Grassi; an exercise that she particularly enjoys.

From a young age she developed a proclivity towards music, says her mother, Samahir. "From the time she was a baby she used to sing along with famous songs in Arabic and English. I hope that I can develop her power to sing through the piano."