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26/09/15 12:52Video: Iraqi Youth Orchestra | Public Radio International
Page 1 of 5http://www.pri.org/stories/2011-09-29/video-iraqi-youth-orchestra
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Conflict & Justice
Video: Iraqi YouthOrchestraSeptember 29, 2011 · 11:00 AM CDT
Reporter Shant Shahrigian
Host Marco Werman
By Shant Shahrigian
Conductor Paul MacAlindin stood before a group ofmusicians ranging in age from 16 to 28. They came fromacross Iraq; 16 are Arabs (both Sunni and Shiite), 25 areKurds, and four are Turkmen.
"What we have here is quite a remarkable and publicand profound symbol of harmony, both in the musicaland in the spiritual sense, between groups of peoplewho, although they live in the same political entity,Iraq, know actually very little about each other,"MacAlindin said.
They're getting to know each other, and they havefellow member, Zuhal Sultan to thank for that. Severalyears ago, the teenage pianist managed to put out aninternational call for a conductor and teachers to helptrain young Iraqi musicians.
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26/09/15 12:52Video: Iraqi Youth Orchestra | Public Radio International
Page 2 of 5http://www.pri.org/stories/2011-09-29/video-iraqi-youth-orchestra
Conductor MacAlindin responded, and went on to helpSultan organize three music training camps in IraqiKurdistan, staffed with professional teachers from theUK and the US. Funding came from government andprivate sources in Iraq and the UK.
Many of the orchestra members haven't had much inthe way of formal training. They said when the warbroke out in 2003, many musicians le" or just stoppedteaching. Sabat Hamid, a 28-year-old cellist from thenorthern town of Arbil, said the young musicians o"enhad to teach themselves.
"It was very hard because we didn't have teachers toshow us how to play," Hamid said. "Mozart andBeethoven are big composers, and pieces by them arehard. There was no one who could help us."
Even with the training camps, barriers remain –including language. As MacAlindin conducts, he said herelies on two translators at his side who repeat hiswords in Kurdish and in Arabic.
18-year-old oboist Dua'a Azawi said in spite ofdifferences of language, culture, and religion, orchestramembers have become close.
"We are all from different backgrounds, but that doesn'taffect who we are," Azawi said. "We have one unitedbackground, which is music. We all play music. Peoplehave been asking me if problems have happenedbetween you and the Kurdish, and I say no, I have veryclose friends, and they are Kurdish."
This weekend, the Iraqi Youth Orchestra is performingits first concert abroad. The members are playing at theBeethovenfest in Bonn. In honor of the trip, two workswere commissioned for the group. One is by an IraqiArab composer and another by an Iraqi Kurd.
The group is on track to play at the Edinburgh Festival
26/09/15 12:52Video: Iraqi Youth Orchestra | Public Radio International
Page 3 of 5http://www.pri.org/stories/2011-09-29/video-iraqi-youth-orchestra
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Culture & Media .Tagged: Arbil Baghdad Iraq Middle East Zuhal Sultan Paul MacAlindin Sabat Hamid race and ethnicity music crime
Fringe next year. MacAlindin said it is still too dangerousfor them to play in Baghdad, but he hopes for a concertin the Iraqi capital within a year or two. He said thegroup's long-term goal is to help restart a stablemusical education system in Iraq.
He said the young musicians are getting world-classteaching, and "that will turn them into the teachers ofthe future for Iraq."
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Since quality western instruments are hard to come by in Iraq, donors in Germany have given the group new ones. The National Youth Orchestra of Iraq rehearses in the main hall of the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. (Photo: ShantShahrigian)
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26/09/15 12:52Video: Iraqi Youth Orchestra | Public Radio International
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