Middle East Harmonies

Middle East Harmonies. If only it were so easy! If we think it’s difficult to achieve blend in a group of singers, think of what it’s like in politics. And yet, we had this idea that maybe music could provide a place where people who have deadly disagreements could sit down together and find common ground. I was inspired by the idea that cultural exchange could advance mutual understanding and empathy and reduce negative stereotyping. Musicians do more than just entertain.  In the words of composer William Parker, musicians should “awaken us from our sleep and never let us forget our obligations as human beings to light the fire of compassion.”

 

You all know about the power of choral singing to heal and bring people together. I have found several inspiring examples of Israelis and Palestinians coming together in peaceful collaboration through the art of music. And the picture is not all rosy. But they try!

Singing together creates what Benedict Anderson calls “unisonality.” Through the act of singing the same words and the same music at the same time, individuals, who are in many ways quite different from one another, merge into one voice. Most people experience this only within music of a shared tradition. Think of a huge crowd singing the national anthem at a sports event. Our experiment was to see if we could create unisonality when performing music of another’s tradition.

 

Samuel Huntington wrote about “the clash of civilizations,” but the Middle East Harmonies project presents another model—the counterpoint of civilizations. Counterpoint can be thought of as the harmonious coexistence of two dissimilar (musical) ideas. The Middle East Harmonies project brought together the musics of people who share a common origin. In an attempt to bypass politics, we were attempting to create harmony in the only way that we could. Perhaps it will be contagious, perhaps not. But musicians have an obligation to inspire and to provoke. In the words of our ancient wisdom literature, “You are not obligated to complete the task, but neither are you free to ignore it.” And in the words of Psalm 34, “Seek peace and pursue it!”

 

(from the interest session “Middle East Harmonies” by Joshua R Jacobson and Andre de Quadros. Presented during the 2012 Eastern Division Conference)