An article in Monday’s (8/13) New Zealand Herald states, “It has been dubbed the ‘bravest orchestra in the world’. Members of Iraq’s National Youth Orchestra have had to run the gauntlet of car bombs and other forms of violence to get to rehearsals—that is, if they weren’t banned from playing outright. They have had to disguise their instruments to avoid being stopped by fundamentalists opposed to ‘Western’ music. Even in the relative safety of their own homes they play quietly to avoid attracting attention. But next week, after defying the odds, they will give their first performances outside Iraq. The 45-strong orchestra will accompany the world-renowned British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber at concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Iraq once had a rich tradition of Western classical music, but many musicians fled after Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party came to power. Those who remained through the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, risked retribution from fundamentalists opposed to classical music and watched as concert venues were closed down. Despite this, in 2008, a then 17-year-old Zuhal Sultan, a pianist from Baghdad, set about recruiting members for the country’s first youth orchestra. … The British Council in Iraq and a Scottish conductor, Paul MacAlindin, lent support and gradually the hope for a youth orchestra gained ground.”
Posted August 14, 2012
