Michigan’s Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra has announced a new education initiative called Orchestra Rouh for children of refugee families recently resettled in Kalamazoo. Orchestra Rouh offers regular, ongoing music instruction to children of Syrian and other refugee families, led by teachers who are bilingual in English and Arabic, and including music from Arabic and Western traditions. Rouh means “hope” and “spirit” in Arabic. Orchestra Rouh is a joint effort of the KSO’s education department and the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo. The program was founded and is led by violinist Ahmed Tofiq, cellist Bashdar Sdiq, and Arabic instructor Hend Ezzat Hegab, who use social and learning activities to help reduce isolation for refugee families and speed up children’s English-language acquisition. Tofiq and Sdiq, both from Iraqi Kurdistan, recently completed master’s degrees in music at Western Michigan University, and previously taught and toured with the Youth Orchestra of Iraq. Orchestra Rouh participants meet four afternoons per week for violin and cello lessons and group classes at the Suzuki Academy of Kalamazoo, which is donating rehearsal space. String instruments for the program have been donated by Meyer Music of Kalamazoo.
Posted May 3, 2017
Pictured: Violinist Ahmed Tofiq works with students in the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra’s new Orchestra Rouh program.
