Diminishing a climate of violence through music
Published on Friday, December 1, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
Music against Violence
by César Chelala
Political and religious leaders can get help in their peace-making efforts from un unlikely source: contemporary musicians. The formation of an inter religious orchestra of Jewish, Muslim and Catholic musicians can point the way towards diminishing a climate of violence and signal the beginning of a new kind of relationship among people of different religious beliefs. Such an orchestra was recently formed in Argentina.
This is the first time that such an orchestra has been created in the country. It materialized as the result of the work of the Catholic priest Fernando Giannetti, Rabbi Sergio Bergman and the president of the Argentine Islamic Center Sumir Noufouri. From the beginning, the initiative has had the strong support of Daniel Barenboim, the noted musician who has been working tirelessly for peace in the Middle East.
Barenboim’s support is particularly significant. Together with the former Palestinian scholar Edward Said he created the West-Eastern Divan (named after an anthology of poems by Goethe), an orchestra made up of young Israeli and Palestinian musicians. The orchestra has performed throughout the world and Barenboim, as part of his peace awareness efforts, has given piano recitals and music classes in Palestinian areas.
Barenboim’s efforts are also in line with that of another Argentine pianist, Miguel Angel Estrella, the present Argentine Ambassador to UNESCO. Estrella is the founder of Musique Esperance, a group that intends to promote peace and justice through music. Estrella has also formed an Orchestra for Peace made of young Israelis and Arab musicians. It gathers musicians from Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and the Palestinian territories. Estrella places special emphasis in empowering the youth generation. As he states, “If we are able to create a new humanism, we will be more credible to our children and the youth of today.”
The conductor of the inter religious Argentine orchestra is Luis Gorelik, an Argentine musician with a distinguished international career. Through their work, both director and musicians intend to show the possibility for cooperation among people of different religious persuasions.
The Argentine inter religious orchestra, called Armonías (Harmonies) is made up of 34 musicians from several Argentine provinces and intends to incorporate musicians from other Latin American countries.
Is there a place for a musical group to be a model for cooperation among people of different religions? I believe there is, particularly if we see these kind of efforts in the context of what is happening in the world today. Thus, while politicians’ actions seem to increase the divide among different religious groups, the work of the above mentioned musicians is contributing to close that gap.
Many of today’s political and religious leaders share a heavy responsibility. They have led the world into cycles of violence that have increased dramatically in recent times. By trying to fight fire with fire they have only succeeded in provoking a greater number of conflicts with more serious consequences.
Violence and suffering have not abated, and will not abate unless a climate of understanding and cooperation is fostered. It is within these conditions that efforts such as those of Barenboim with his West-Eastern Divan orchestra, Estrella with his Orchestra for Peace and the inter religious orchestra Armonías have a more evident peace-promoting role.
It is only by increasing communal work and cooperation that we may have a hope for an end to brutal conflicts throughout the world. Political world leaders have failed miserably in maintaining peace in the world. Perhaps through civilian efforts, particularly music, we can reach a level of understanding that can eventually lead to a less violent world.
Common citizens worldwide feel powerless to confront these deadly waves of destructiveness. What we can do, however, is to build bridges of understanding of which these musical initiatives are a good example. By building bridges of peace, by multiplying peace promoting orchestras, we common citizens can show the merchants of war that music and cooperation can triumph over destruction and death.
César Chelala writes extensively on human rights issues.
To read the original article on Common Dreams, click on:
Common Dreams
Music against Violence
by César Chelala
Political and religious leaders can get help in their peace-making efforts from un unlikely source: contemporary musicians. The formation of an inter religious orchestra of Jewish, Muslim and Catholic musicians can point the way towards diminishing a climate of violence and signal the beginning of a new kind of relationship among people of different religious beliefs. Such an orchestra was recently formed in Argentina.
This is the first time that such an orchestra has been created in the country. It materialized as the result of the work of the Catholic priest Fernando Giannetti, Rabbi Sergio Bergman and the president of the Argentine Islamic Center Sumir Noufouri. From the beginning, the initiative has had the strong support of Daniel Barenboim, the noted musician who has been working tirelessly for peace in the Middle East.
Barenboim’s support is particularly significant. Together with the former Palestinian scholar Edward Said he created the West-Eastern Divan (named after an anthology of poems by Goethe), an orchestra made up of young Israeli and Palestinian musicians. The orchestra has performed throughout the world and Barenboim, as part of his peace awareness efforts, has given piano recitals and music classes in Palestinian areas.
Barenboim’s efforts are also in line with that of another Argentine pianist, Miguel Angel Estrella, the present Argentine Ambassador to UNESCO. Estrella is the founder of Musique Esperance, a group that intends to promote peace and justice through music. Estrella has also formed an Orchestra for Peace made of young Israelis and Arab musicians. It gathers musicians from Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and the Palestinian territories. Estrella places special emphasis in empowering the youth generation. As he states, “If we are able to create a new humanism, we will be more credible to our children and the youth of today.”
The conductor of the inter religious Argentine orchestra is Luis Gorelik, an Argentine musician with a distinguished international career. Through their work, both director and musicians intend to show the possibility for cooperation among people of different religious persuasions.
The Argentine inter religious orchestra, called Armonías (Harmonies) is made up of 34 musicians from several Argentine provinces and intends to incorporate musicians from other Latin American countries.
Is there a place for a musical group to be a model for cooperation among people of different religions? I believe there is, particularly if we see these kind of efforts in the context of what is happening in the world today. Thus, while politicians’ actions seem to increase the divide among different religious groups, the work of the above mentioned musicians is contributing to close that gap.
Many of today’s political and religious leaders share a heavy responsibility. They have led the world into cycles of violence that have increased dramatically in recent times. By trying to fight fire with fire they have only succeeded in provoking a greater number of conflicts with more serious consequences.
Violence and suffering have not abated, and will not abate unless a climate of understanding and cooperation is fostered. It is within these conditions that efforts such as those of Barenboim with his West-Eastern Divan orchestra, Estrella with his Orchestra for Peace and the inter religious orchestra Armonías have a more evident peace-promoting role.
It is only by increasing communal work and cooperation that we may have a hope for an end to brutal conflicts throughout the world. Political world leaders have failed miserably in maintaining peace in the world. Perhaps through civilian efforts, particularly music, we can reach a level of understanding that can eventually lead to a less violent world.
Common citizens worldwide feel powerless to confront these deadly waves of destructiveness. What we can do, however, is to build bridges of understanding of which these musical initiatives are a good example. By building bridges of peace, by multiplying peace promoting orchestras, we common citizens can show the merchants of war that music and cooperation can triumph over destruction and death.
César Chelala writes extensively on human rights issues.
To read the original article on Common Dreams, click on:
Common Dreams
posted by Pax Christi @ Saturday, December 02, 2006
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