AN ASSYRIAN MUSIC MAKER

By Obelit Yadgar

I first heard Rev. Samuel Khangaldy’s music at the 2009 Mesopotamian Nights production. It was the overture from the oratorio Gilgamesh and it was good stuff. The overture, about 15 minutes or so long, uses long and luscious lines in the tradition of the great symphonic poems by Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Liszt and Sibelius. “Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us,” said Boris Pasternak, and the Rev. Khangaldy’s music was such a gift.

I looked for the opportunity to chat with him about his musical world. The Rev. Khangaldy’s music is showcased in this year’s Mesopotamian Nights production with several compositions, so what better opportunity for a conversation? Here are some of the things we chatted about on the phone, since he lives in San Jose and I in Wisconsin.

Obelit:    Your music is spotlighted in this year’s production of Mesopotamian Nights program. Music by another extraordinary Assyrian composer, George Somi, is also on tap this year. What’s your assessment of this year’s overall production?

Samuel:  I think this will be a new experience for the audience by offering a completely different view of the choir combined with the orchestra. Also, the arrangements by George Somi and others add to the variety of the music. The different arrangements and musical styles, from classical to pop, especially the nationalistic songs, will make for a really exciting and wonderful evening. 

Obelit:    You had your first music lesson at age eight. And here you are, decades later, your compositions performed everywhere. Somewhere along in your life, did you have a sense of where you would be at this stage in your artistic life?

Samuel:  I could not imagine this day, but I wanted to be a good composer. I liked classical music since I was a kid, and even though my beginning lessons were in Persian pop music, I always listened to classical radio.

Obelit:    Music seems to permeate your life. What is music to you?                                                            

Samuel: To me, music is life, and as a Christian and a pastor, I believe salvation is the greatest gift from God to us and I feel that music is second to that. Music is the greatest gift from God after salvation.

Obelit:    Are you a composer who writes Assyrian music or an Assyrian who composes music? Do you see a difference, and if so, which are you? Or does it make a difference in the artist’s life and work?

Samuel:  I write music as an Assyrian, but naturally I was influenced by the environment in which I grew up — with a taste of Persian, Arabic, and definitely western classical music because it was my life.      

Obelit:    Upon reflection, how do you assess your development as musician and composer?

Samuel:  I am never content with what I am doing. I like it, but I see that there is always room to be better and to develop. I had good teachers and I learned a lot, but I’m never satisfied. I want my music today to be different than it was last year, and the year before. I’m always ready to learn more from different composers, past and present, and even the great classical composers.

Obelit:    You were born in Tehran and received a degree in economics from the National University of Iran. At the same time you were studying piano and music. Tehran Symphony Orchestra as well as the National Iranian Radio and Television Orchestra performed your music. You directed performances of choral works for the late Shah of Iran. Those are major accomplishments. Did you have a set direction for your life at that time or did you feel pulled in all directions by these distinctly different fields of study?

Samuel:  No, at the time I looked at these as just special events. I never thought that today I would be in this position, providing music for my community.

Obelit:    At the time, then, we could say music was just a sideline for you, whereas your main focus was on your economic studies.

Samuel:  Yes, at the time my focus was on a degree in economics, but, at the same time, I was telling myself, “Why am I wasting my time here? Why am I not studying music?” In those days, living in Iran, the mindset was different. You became a doctor, an engineer, an architect, and music was not thought of as highly as it is today. Yes, I was studying music on the side, but now I wish I had studied music fulltime from childhood and thought of it as my profession.

Obelit:    If I remember, back then if you were not a doctor, an engineer, an architect or someone with a tangible career, you were nobody.

Samuel:  Some people considered music as a good hobby. Others said, “Well, we already have records to listen to and musicians and singers, so why do you want to waste your time on music?” Some people did not look at music as a respectable profession.

Obelit:    As an Assyrian, did you face any obstacles, artistic, social and political, in those early years?

Samuel:  No, not really.

Obelit:    So then many avenues were open to you and that no one blocked your way.

Samuel:  Actually I was respected, because I served the church with my musical talent. I taught music to Assyrian children as well as Persian. As a teacher, I was respected. As a Christian who served the Lord with my music, I was respected. So altogether I was happy with what was happening with my life.      

Obelit:    As a classically trained musician and composer, when writing and performing Assyrian music, do you feel the classical influence in your work? Are Bach and Beethoven looking over your shoulder? Is Mozart? Brahms? Tchaikovsky?

Samuel:  I try to be myself, because everything I do comes from my nature, from the depths of my feeling and my heart. But of course, I cannot deny the presence of these composers in my life. I feel a little bit of each in me.

Obelit:    Do you feel drawn to a specific composer from western classical music, or have a particular relationship, say, with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms or the other greats?

Samuel:  I like Beethoven’s influence. I like the rush, the intensity in his music. I like that kind of music — powerful and fast and intense. When you listen to Beethoven, you know it’s different from the other composers. On the other hand, I like the spirituality in Bach’s music, and sometimes I show it in my music.

Obelit:    What about some of the other great composers?

Samuel:  I like the poetry in Chopin. Sometimes you can hear it in my piano compositions. I like the freedom in Camille Saint-Saens. Even though he was French, he freely used African and Middle Eastern melodies and themes in his music.

Obelit:    Oh, yes, a good example is the fifth piano concerto by Saint- Saens, titled “Egyptian.” One clearly hears those themes in it. The Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, titled “Africa,” in which Saint-Saens uses Nubian themes and folk songs. He is a fascinating composer, and I know what you mean by the freedom in his music.

Samuel:  Yes, of course. I ask myself, “Why can’t I do that?” Because I feel the same freedom to use melodies that are not Assyrian — I mean in spirit. After all, music is the universal language and I feel completely free to use whatever I want.   

Obelit:    What are your thoughts about Assyrian music arranged and performed for western-style chamber ensembles and big orchestras? Mesopotamian Nights productions have been a major force in presenting Assyrian works in symphonic and operatic forms.

Samuel:  I take that as a big step forward in Assyrian music. One thing I know about Persian traditional music is that it’s not developed because they think of it in simple arrangements. Now that Assyrian composers are embracing the western style of music in broad terms, it is opening new doors. I see that our music is so rich that our composers can produce it in great orchestral works. 

Obelit:    I have read some sniping against Assyrian music being arranged and orchestrated for western-style ensembles: that this detracts from the “purity” of Assyrian music. I find the comments absurd. What does “purity” mean? Does that mean we’re stuck forever with the zoorna and the davoola, that we have to limit ourselves to the musical instruments of our forefathers, and that we are not creative enough, visionary enough to explore other performance medium?

Samuel:  In this year’s Mesopotamian Nights program you will hear how beautifully Assyrian classical melodies are arranged and orchestrated for a big symphony orchestra. George Somi does a beautiful job by bringing in the zoorna and the davoola in the symphony orchestra. That shows you that you can use simple Assyrian instruments in the big orchestra. It’s world music and you can do anything you want without any obstacles and nobody can limit you. It’s an unlimited musical world.        

Obelit:    You immigrated to the U.S., in 1984, with your family and settled in San Jose, California. Later you received a degree in theology from San Jose Christian College — later changed to William Jessup University — and were ordained in 1996. Currently you’re the associate pastor at the Assyrian Evangelical Church of San Jose and the Bay Area. Does religion influence your music?

Samuel:  Yes, of course.

Obelit:  How so?

Samuel:  I mentioned that to me music is the greatest gift from God after salvation. I started with church music and as a kid played piano in church. I look at God as a great musician and artist. If a string on a wooden box creates music by vibration, that’s the nature God put in that string and the wooden box. We hear music in birds and in nature. So, yes, God is a great musician and He inspires me. God has given me musical talent and I try to glorify Him with it.  

Obelit:    You’ve composed orchestral music, choral, solo, especially for the piano, Gospel, Assyrian folk dances. Is there a particular medium you prefer?

Samuel:  I like the whole thing. Everything. Every style. For instance, piano solo is the best way to express my feelings when I am alone. I sit at the piano and my fingers run on the keys, creating something I never thought to create. Music seems to come by itself without my thinking. That’s internal feeling. It comes from deep within me. I cannot do that immediately with the orchestra. The piano is the first and the best instrument for me to express my internal feeling. And then, if necessary, I can transcribe it for a big orchestra.

Obelit:    Early on, in Iran, you switched from the accordion to the piano. What compelled you to make the switch?

Samuel:  I played according for three years and pretended it was the piano — I would sit on the floor with the according keyboard on my lap horizontally and play it like a piano. I was invited to play the accordion in school many times, but I didn’t like to do that. So then when my father suggested we sell the accordion and buy a piano, I could not be happier and my answer was a big yes. We sold the according and bought a piano — the only piano available in town.

Obelit:    Do you compose at the piano? Who was it, Stravinsky, who composed at the piano standing up?

Samuel:  Sometimes at the piano and sometimes on the electronic keyboard. Sometimes, when I don’t have an instrument, while driving or in bed, I hear the music and the instrument that can produce that feeling better. For instance the oboe. Or should it be a violin or a trumpet? Whatever instrument comes to mind and that I feel fits.

Obelit:    Do you compose when time allows or devote a regular time to it?

Samuel:  No, I don’t have set hours to compose. I’m a pastor and have to be available anytime that the church needs me, or people need me. I also teach piano. I am occupied with so many things and I have to make time for them. So I do music between jobs. I compose whenever time allows, but mostly in late evening.   

Obelit:    Do you need inspiration to compose? Or do you have a specific method to get the creative juices flowing? For instance, Brahms said he got some of his best musical ideas while polishing his shoes in the morning?

Samuel:  I am in love with music, with life, with my family and with nature. I’m also in love with my Assyrian heritage. I find inspiration everywhere. There are moments when you can feel inspiration is more dominant, but there is always something to inspire me.     

Obelit:    What role does Assyrian nationalism play in your music?

Samuel:  I love my nation and am proud to be an Assyrian. I have always wanted to write music on Assyrian themes — Gilgamesh, Ishtar going to the underworld, even the persecution of Assyrians during the genocide. I love Assyrian mythology. I love the mythology from other nations, as well, but Assyrian mythology has a special place in my heart and mind. The Assyrian nationality and music have a special place in my life.     

Obelit:    Nationalism, love of our heritage as Assyrians, runs in our blood. Wherever we go we’re Assyrians first. This nationalism also is present in every bit of music we hear by Assyrian composers. And rightly so, I might add. It’s been the case for just about all our composers of the past. Do you find it so in our contemporary composers?

Samuel:  Yes, I hear that in them.

Obelit:    What is your assessment of our past composers?

Samuel:  Nobody can give everything, but each gave something to our nation. Paulus Khofri gave something to Assyrians. So did William Daniel. Nebu Issabey gave something that William Daniel didn’t. William Daniel gave something that Nebu Issabey didn’t. We are fortunate to have had these composers, and others, because each left us a musical treasure. 

Obelit:    I don’t mean to put you on the spot, but what is your assessment of our contemporary composers?

Samuel:  Prior to 2008, when Mesopotamian Nights premiered, I could not imagine we had so many good composers and arrangers. When these programs started, I realized how many talented musicians we have, and they’re all awesome to me.   

Obelit:    Do you see any particularly bright stars among our contemporary composers?

Samuel:  It’s hard to answer that. But I see one or two of them that can really shine in the future if supported by Assyrians. I like George Somi.

Obelit:  Yes, Somi is a remarkable young Assyrian composer.

Samuel: Also there is another composer and musician — Rasson Bet-Yonan. I have never met him, but I have heard his music. When I heard his piano music and his Variations on Assyrian Folk Music, I was amazed. 

Obelit:    I wrote the jacket notes for his CD Theme and Variation in Four Movements. He really impressed me, too. A lot of the Rachmaninoff in his music. It blends beautifully with Assyrian.

Samuel:  Yes, he is really something.  

Obelit:    He and George Somi are bright stars. Tell me, once upon a time Assyria dazzled the known world with its culture, art and architecture. Perhaps even music. Do you see that, or even get a hint of it, in us, the Assyrians of today? Will we dazzle the world with our serious music?

Samuel:  I don’t know. If it happens, it will be in the far distance. Most nations have had centuries of musical heritage and background. They have had great composers and millions of musical creations. Assyrians are new in this particular world of music and have very little experience. If I may say so, also little education compared to the great composers of the past, and even contemporary musicians. We don’t even have music performers — instrumentalists, I mean — to shine on an international level. On the other hand, there is big competition in music around the world, and there are politics involved. You have to show yourself among many musicians from many countries. Reaching that level, when we will dazzle the world, would be tough. I wish that happens someday, but I don’t see it in the near future.

Obelit:    Upon reflecting on our music — of the past, of today and of the future — where are we? Where have we been, where are we, and where are we going?

Samuel:  I think we are making good progress. Yesterday we were better than fifty years ago. Today we are better than yesterday. Our composers are growing at a great speed — many of them are active and helping in Mesopotamian Nights. And there are a many more we don’t know about. We now have so many more musicians than we did in the past, especially educated musicians, that I see a bright future for our music. Yes, yes, today we are much better compared to the past.

Obelit:    What lies ahead for you? Are you working on anything special, a big Assyrian symphony, an opera or a choral piece?

Samuel:  This year I was very involved with Mesopotamian Nights. Two pieces in the program are my original melodies and orchestrations, and the others pieces by other composers that I have orchestrated. The big work that I started four years ago, Gilgamesh, I stopped that year. I want to start working on that once again, if time allows, if God allows, and to leave a legacy behind.

Obelit:  Any other compositions?

Samuel:  I am working on two projects. One is some piano music that I composed years ago that I want to publish. The other is church songs, some sixty or seventy of them that I want to put in a different book.

Obelit:    Do you have a message for our artists, young and old: writers, poets, composers, musicians, painters, dancers, and so on?

Samuel:  Art in general is a beautiful thing. It’s a great gift to humanity. Everybody needs that, from the young to the old. Life is not all work. Being sensitive with artistic feelings makes us more sensitive to the needs of others, sharing more love and music so that we can understand each other. Everybody needs that. So my message to Assyrian families is to please encourage children to learn an instrument, not necessarily to become musicians, but to at least be a friend of music and to understand music. Our community needs to have that.

Obelit:    You can add literature to that. And, yes, poetry. Theatre. Art and sculpture. Dance. Opera. There is no limit to the arts. You yourself are also a fine calligrapher. And a painter. Mostly in oils. It’s easy to see the love of God and nature in your landscapes.

Samuel:  If you as parents see that your children have a special talent in music and writing and theatre and dance, encourage them. We need that. Don’t force them to do the things that they don’t want to. Assyrians have had great influence in history. Why not now?

Obelit:    And perhaps out of all this we’ll see future Assyrian composers.

Samuel:  We can only hope and pray.  

         

  

A MUSICAL FEAST FOR 2013

By Obelit Yadgar

From the beginning, the Mesopotamian Nights productions have served a feast of Assyrian musical gems backed by a big symphony orchestra. With new operas performed in Assyrian to ballets danced in dazzling traditional costumes, the musical events have offered something for every taste. All that trimmed with clusters of sweet and sentimental songs by past and present composers.

What a treat to experience the artistic heights the Assyrian performing arts can reach.

The 2013 production promises another musical extravaganza packed with new works and fresh ideas. This year it’s the re-discovery of the Assyrian choir. “The choir is more than just a few people singing together,” says Artistic Director Fred Elieh. “It’s people with different backgrounds, ideas and feelings all becoming one and delivering a melodic message.”

George Somi, the exceptionally talented young Assyrian composer, starts the big works with two movements from his orchestral suite The Assyrian Legacy. The movement titled Hammurabi’s Law celebrates the code of law that is known as the first law code. “The music capitalizes on ancient Near Eastern tones by using the Hijaz Maqam, a scale readily identifiable as Middle Eastern,” explained Somi. “The rhythms are deliberate and vigorous, representing the content of the Law Code.”

The fourth movement, titled The Fall of the Great Empire, represents the fall of Nineveh, in 612 B.C. “The Fall is cinematic and grave,” added Somi. 

Noted Assyrian composer the Rev. Samuel Khangaldy offers a wealth of choral works for the 2013 production. Some are original and some arrangements of works by other composers. That included the Mar Benyamin Oratorio, a work written originally for a small choir and piano written by Nebu Isabey. The oratorio recounts the betrayal and subsequent murder of the Assyrian Church of the East patriarch in the 1917 genocide.

Khangaldy has arranged and orchestrated three songs, from old recordings, by Rabi Yacoub Bet Yacoub for solo voice with choir. “‘Girls Look Like Angeles’ and ‘My Beloved Young Man’ are combined into a medley,” said Khangaldy. The third song is “Echo of Wisdom.”

Rabi Yacoub, born in Urmia, Iran, in 1896, was an Assyrian scholar, educator, writer and poet. “His music was very simple and filled with sweet innocence,” he added.

Khangaldy regards The New Mesopotamia, which closes the first half of the program, as his masterpiece. He set it to a poem by the Assyrian writer, poet and educator Marcel Josephson. Khangaldy recalled the words touched his heart and soul so much that he felt compelled to write the music for the poem.

“This is about the new Mesopotamia that calls for her sons and daughters to put all their differences aside and to unite in building a new Mesopotamia, our own homeland,” he explained. “I didn’t have to change any words. Everything about it, from rhythm to syllable, was perfect and I had no problem writing the music.”

French composer Michel Bosc returns to Mesopotamian Nights with a tender and poignant instrumental work titled “The Prayer of Assyrian Nation.” The music is a good lead in the second half of the program into Samuel Khangaldy’s The Marriage Proposal. This charming musical comedy for five solo singers draws a light-hearted picture of life and marriage in an Assyrian village. In spirit, it recalls the bubbly English light musicals of Gilbert and Sullivan.

The musical is an arrangement and orchestration of a song written by the noted Assyrian writer, composer and musician William Daniel, published in the early 1940s. “The whole song as Rabi Daniel wrote it was about four or five minutes long,” Khangaldy pointed out. “I added new music to it and more dialogue to make it about fifteen minutes long.”

The Marriage Proposal serves as a primer in the second half for a celebration of songs made popular by two Assyrian legends: the late Biba and Shamiram. In Iraq, Edward Yousif, known as Biba, was called “King of Singers.” Assyrians loved him, for his music served as the reflection of their lives: the joy, the love, the suffering. 

Biba said he and his musical collaborator George Ishu were always looking for a new sound, something never heard before by Assyrians. “We did not want to imitate Western music,” he said. “We wanted to continue in the path of Eastern music, but posses a new sound, provide a new dimension.”

Shamiram Urshan, in neighboring Iran, was already a song and dance artist by age eight. She was born in Tehran, where she explored the wide spectrum of the performing arts. Even after immigrating to the U.S. and settling in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, and even during the years she raised her three children, Shamiram remained the consummate Assyrian song and dance artist.

 She turned professional singer when her children were grown up. That she had a wealth of Assyrian songs in her treasure chest already, songs written by her late father Daniel Gevargis Urshan, her career soared internationally. Her first album, recorded in 1978, was a major hit among Assyrians worldwide.

“We will have four different Assyrian singers singing nine of their songs,” said Artistic Director Fred Elieh.

The popular Assyrian artists George Gindo, Avadis Sarkissian, Stella Rezgo and Rita Toma Davoud will romp through nine of Biba and Shamiram songs. George Somi and Devin Farney have arranged all the songs. The music of each artist will be preceded by a short biographical documentary.

“We have not even started utilizing the wealth of Assyrian talent out there,” noted Mesopotamian Nights producer Tony Khoshaba. “Not even explored the musicians from Western Assyria — commonly known as the Jacobites — tradition.”

The biggest challenge still remains, Khoshaba admitted, and that is to expand the audience beyond the Assyrian community and taking Assyrian arts to the mainstream. “We need to figure out how to do this,” he added. “We have created enough material that could be appealing to people outside our community.”

With a string of successful musical gems from Mesopotamian Nights, as well as much needed support from Assyrians proud of their culture and artistic heritage, Khoshaba’s dream can only be just around the corner. It takes vision to realize the potential in the Assyrian performing arts. It also takes willing hands to throw open the curtain and watch them soar.

A CHAT WITH FRED ELIEH

By Obelit Yadgar

(Photo Courtesy of Joseph Hakobi)

Through the years I have had the joy of discovering, for myself, a cast of exciting Assyrian composers, arrangers and musicians. The Rev. Samuel Khangaldy, George Somi, Edwin Elieh, among others, comprise a lineup of talented Assyrian artists whose works represent the richness of our arts and culture. Fred Elieh, the artistic director for the 2013 Mesopotamian Nights program, is another name added to my coveted list. I chatted with Fred about this year’s production. 

Obelit: I have watched you work for the past few years and been impressed with the range of your artistic talent. Now you’re the artistic director for 2013 production. I already see a star in your credits. What is your focus for this year’s production?

Fred: For as long as I’m involved with this program, it is my goal to introduce something new to our people every year. Last year I had the good fortune of bringing to the stage the first documented Assyrian musical in history. A great portion of this was attributed to my dear and genius friend Edwin Elieh, who composed and arranged all the music. This year I wanted to re-discover the great Assyrian choir.

Obelit: You seem to have an affinity for choral music, and for the choir in general. As an artist, what draws you to this musical medium?

Fred: The choir to me is more than just a few people singing together. It’s people with different backgrounds, ideas and feelings, all becoming one and delivering a melodic message.

Obelit: In your programming you not only reflect on the past — Assyrians tend to that a lot — but you also explore the present. I think that’s an attractive trait for an artistic director.

Fred: I truly believe that while we pay honor to our legendary artists, we also have to open up the road for the more current and upcoming ones. The works of Samuel Khangaldy, George Somi and Honnibal Yousef are just to name a few. It is the works of these artists that our children will hopefully be celebrating in years to come. 

Obelit: Of course, I would be remiss to neglect your flair for diversity in programming. This year’s production shouts diversity. It’s good stuff. 

Fred: I want to diversify the programming. I don’t want to do it with just music, but with poetry, film and dance. 

Obelit: In putting together this year’s program, what particular mood, what range of color did you have in mind? 

Fred: In contrast to last year, we will be opening the show this year with a very powerful message of hope rather than compassion, which will continue to bleed into all the performances throughout the show. My hope is to stun the audience in the beginning with a very high-energy number. I want to captivate them with a 60-person Assyrian choir. I want to make them laugh with a beautiful musical. I want to have them reminisce with the beautiful songs of Biba and Shamiram. 

Obelit: You’re presenting the works of a number of prominent Assyrian composers, some well known and some not as much. Why did you select these particular composers?

Fred: It is a beautiful blend of classic and modern. While there are traditional aspects to the program, there are also some modern ones, which will capture our younger audience.

Obelit:  Any musical production presents challenges for the director as well as the performer. From a La Scala opera to a Broadway musical to a school play, overcoming challenges are a part of the show. I suspect Assyrian productions are no different. How do you plan to overcome the challenges in presenting these works?

Fred: It’s amazing what a symphony orchestra can do to any piece of music. Layer that with talented singers and you have the makings of a great performance. While some of the numbers need no additional presentation, we do have some surprises for others. Choreography has always been an important component of this program and this year we are proud to have two different sets of dancers that will interpret the music for us.

Obelit:  As you reflect on the Assyrian music in this year’s production, by modern composers and by those no longer with us, what goes through your mind?

Fred: The soul that exists in Assyrian music we will be performing this year is consistent in all of our composers. There are, however, challenges with the composers that are no longer with us — to go back to your earlier question. They all left us in some cases with very little to go by. It’s truly rewarding to re-invent what is already a masterpiece while at the same time keeping the integrity of the work. Our current composers, in my opinion, are rising to the occasion of producing as good a music at those that preceded them. 

The 6th Annual Mesopotamian Night concert, presented by the Assyrian Aid Society of America, is Saturday, June 15, at the California Theatre in San Jose, California.

MESOPOTAMIAN NIGHT REFLECTIONS

In the following article, Obelit Yadgar summarizes better than everyone else, the vision behind our Mesopotamian Night project. We are glad, he is back contributing to what he has passion for: promoting Assyrian Performing Arts.

By: Obelit Yadgar


I have been part of Mesopotamian Night productions, in one way or another, since 2008. For 2008, 2009 and 2010 I was master of ceremonies, as well as writer, program annotator and on-camera interviewer. I flew in from my home in Wisconsin to do the stage work and the interviews. The writing was done at home. With the 2013 production approaching in June, as I plan a series of articles and interviews on the evening, I can’t help but reflect on those years with Mesopotamian Nights.

Assyrian history is rich in art and culture. Visit the world’s finest museums and see our treasures. Yet to my dismay our performing arts suffer painful neglect, especially at a time when opportunity abounds to soar. Look at what other nations do. Feel the dedication to their arts. I wish the Assyrians would realize the wealth of their performing arts and embrace them heart and soul.

For a nation’s soul is in its arts.

It’s bad enough that half the world thinks we’re extinct, but it’s tragic to witness our timid exploration of the Assyrian performing arts.

It’s as if we had none. Sure, our dances are danced at weddings and picnics and our popular songs are sung at various social gatherings. But there is more to Assyrian performing arts than these sweet pleasantries. The potential for great dramas, comedies, operas, light musicals, ballets and literary readings lies parched in an arid wasteland of neglect.

We have the playwrights, the composers, the choreographers, the dancers and the poets. Look around you. They’re everywhere. Yet we taste meager servings. A few bones tossed out. How sad. What is needed is the willing heart and the generous purse to light up the Assyrian performance stage, for we can dazzle the world audience just as well as anybody. Once upon a time we dazzled the known world.

That is what drew me to Mesopotamian Nights when asked, in 2008, to serve as master of ceremonies and writer. For me, it was a dream come true to experience an actual Assyrian stage production and then imagine the potential for some really big stuff. Despite suffering growing pains, artistically and in general, the productions made an indelible impression on the audience. Assyrians were witnessing something rare.

I remember the Assyrian National Anthem “Roomrama” gave me goose bumps, in the 2008 production. William Daniel’s song “Nineveh” performed by soprano Lorraine Davis was a treat. And I feasted on the excerpts from the Assyrian operas Gilgamesh and Inanna, composed by John Craton. In the second half the pop singers Walter Aziz and Ashur Betargis, in the masterful hands of Music Director Pierre Noghli, rocked the evening to a memorable close.

In 2009, John Craton’s opera Gilgamesh returned with another excerpt. Excerpts from the opera Qateeni by Michel Bosc, which was based on the Epic of Qateeni Gabbara by the noted Assyrian composer William Daniel, added to the operatic feast. Also by Bosc, Assyryt Suite was a tasty orchestration of 20 piano pieces by another renowned Assyrian composer Paulus Khofri.

The Overture from the Oratorio Gilgamesh by Samuel Khangaldy stole the show. I was not familiar with the Rev. Khangaldy’s music. What an introduction to this fine Assyrian composer. The gorgeous overture, some 15 minutes or so in length, uses long and luscious lines in the tradition of the great symphonic poems by Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Liszt and Sibelius.

Pop singers Lida Lawando and Emanouel Bet-Younan closed the second half with a string of Assyrian songs, from soulful to bouncy.

The 2010, Mesopotamian Nights served a rollicking Broadway-style Assyrian production. Oh, it was a joyous evening, with a big orchestra, singers and dancers. Michel Bosc’s Assyryt Suite made a return. Then something new by the French composer: the cantata Ninos and Sermiramis, a love story set to poems by Yosip Bet Yosip.

The Assyrian composer Sam Madoo showcased his arrangement for string quartet of several songs by William Daniel. George Somi, another young and talented Assyrian classical music composer, offered excerpts from his orchestral suite The Assyrian Legacy. Such impressive Assyrian talent.

In the second half, Walter Aziz and musician and arranger Edwin Elieh collaborated on a memorable song and dance review. Sherene Melania, artistic director and choreographer for the Presidio Dance Theatre, spiked the show with her exciting choreography and corps of dancers in dazzling Assyrian costumes.

Perched on a stool off stage, beaming like a child in a candy store, I could not but think that Ashurbanipal would have been pleased. Indeed, it was a memorable evening.

Yes, the talent is there — and it’s rich. So is the subject matter. All that is needed is the willing spirit to help it soar. Mesopotamian Nights does it with its annual productions that celebrate the feast of the Assyrian Performing arts. Here is to many more years.

A CHAT WITH NINOS AND SHAMIRAM HEROINE

Ninos and Shamiram, a cantata for soprano, tenor and orchestra, by the French composer Michel Bosc, set to the poem by Yosip Bet Yosip, highlights the classical portion of the Mesopotamian Night gala performance. The cantata, sung in Assyrian, recreates a memorable musical portrait of tender love between the Assyrian nobleman Ninos and the beautiful shepherdess Shamiram. Soprano Liisa Davila sings the role of Shamiram. She spoke with Obelit Yadgar about the cantata and her role as Shamiram.


Obelit: You’ve sung numerous roles, mostly in Italian, but Ninos and Shamiram is in Aramaic, the language of the Assyrians. How does the soprano’s tongue adjust from a romance language to something that is completely different?

Liisa: This will be my first time learning to sing in the Assyrian language and I find this to be an exciting opportunity. Part of a singer's training is to learn how to sing in many languages that are used for the standard operatic and art song repertoire. We are taught to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). That helps us to break down sounds we hear into symbols and that in turn helps us to create the sounds needed for each language. I use the IPA in all of my studies of standard repertoire languages (French, German, Italian, English) and in other languages as well, such as Japanese, Finnish, and Greek. I certainly plan on using my knowledge of the IPA to study Assyrian.

Obelit: What are you doing to prepare your upcoming encounter with the Assyrian language?

Liisa: By listening to the flow of the language. The most important job of the singer is to communicate the text and the meaning of the text through the melody. This is accomplished more easily when the flow of the language is understood.

Obelit: Do you find the Assyrian language daunting?

Liisa: I do not find the Assyrian language daunting. For me, it is an honor to have the opportunity to learn another language and to be introduced to another culture through its poetry. There is a different energy in learning another language through its poetry. There are greater nuances and insights into a culture through its poetry. I have had a love of languages from an early age. It is a personal joy for me to learn Assyrian.

Obelit: In dealing with the Assyrian language, what approach will you take to understand who Shamiram is?

Liisa: In understanding Shamiram I look directly to the poetry and how she is expressed through the poetry. Her responses to Ninos are most telling about her character.

Obelit: Is Shamiram a much different character from some of the other memorable romantic heroines, such as Mimi (Puccini’s La Boheme), Cio-Cio-San (Puccini’s Madama Butterfly), Violetta (Verdi’s La Traviata) and Manon (Jules Massenet’s Manon), among others?

Liisa: Shamiram's story is quite different from that of some of the leading ladies of opera. There are not many stories of heroines who come from such humble beginnings as does Shamiram and that grow to become a queen. Though her story is one with great extremes, she holds the same strength as any leading heroine of opera.

Obelit: Colorful historical legends of the Assyrian queen Shamiram draw a wide range of images of her. How do you see her in these images? I am sure you have some familiarity with them.

Liisa: I have read a few accounts of the stories of Shamiram. In all of the accounts that I have read she has strength of character that defines her through all of her trials and interactions with others. One must have a certain sense of strength and of survival to experience being on her own from an early age. I am sure at times she felt very alone and found her own courage that ultimately raised her to become a queen and a ruler of the Assyrian nation.

Obelit: What is your perception of Shamiram, the beautiful shepherdess, in the cantata Ninos and Shamiram?

Liisa: I find the poem to be so lovely. Both Ninos and Shamiram are portrayed in a very positive light. Shamiram's responses to Ninos are gentle and very smart. She has a great sense of self and does not shy away from meeting the prince, Ninos, but speaks to him with a clear sense of self. This shows that her character is strong, which leads to her strength in other situations.

Obelit: How do you view Ninos?

Liisa: From the poetry, I view Ninos as a kind prince who is in search of beauty.

Obelit: As an operatic character, how significant is Shamiram when placed on the same stage as Mimi, Cio-Cio-San, Violetta and Manon, among other heroines?

Liisa: I find Shamiram can compare to the great heroines of the classic opera repertoire. She is smart and has the strength that is present in all great heroines.  She is a queen and has her own dreams and aspirations. Her story is quite dramatic and has so much material that is worthy of opera. It is exciting to see part of her story being told.

Obelit: What are your thoughts on Michel Bosc’s music and Yosip Bet Yosip’s poem for Ninos and Shamiram?

Liisa: Michel Bosc's music is very expressive and creative in telling the story of these two characters. I love the poetry, which is also very expressive. When I first read the poem, I found myself transported to the hill where Ninos meets Shamiram. That depicts the scene very well and captures a true feeling of "love at first sight."

Obelit: Has this Assyrian cantata paved the way for you to consider other roles in Assyrian should they be offered to you?

Liisa: Absolutely. After learning a bit of the language of the Assyrians it would be great to extend my experience to another opportunity to express music from this culture. There are always stories to be told and music to be heard. As a musician and a singer, it would be exciting to be a part of another Assyrian project in the future.

Obelit Yadgar
Writer and Master of Ceremoniesobieyadgar.com

MUSICAL BANQUET

Assyrians once were a mighty empire whose rule reached far beyond Mesopotamia. Their arts and sciences, their culture dazzled the known world and became the model for nations to emulate.

Then, in 612 B.C., the Assyrian empire fell, never to rise again. The magnificent royal buildings, the great libraries, the massive temples that had symbolized Assyria’s greatness turned into ruins strewn with artifacts and slowly disappeared under the dust. In time Assyria became a forgotten address in the world’s book of nations. All gone.

All except Assyria’s descendants who held their head high and embarked on a long and bittersweet journey to find a home of their own. What they took with them everywhere was their identity. Their national pride. Their culture. Their arts.

And their music.

I don’t know what the music of my ancestors sounded like: the laments, the drinking songs, the marching songs, the battle songs, the street songs, the love songs — I have no way of knowing. Assyrian traditional music heard today gives me a hint, but that’s about all. I have only a nibble when I am looking for a feast. I have only a drop when I am looking for a gusher.

That the ancient Assyrians loved their music is evident in the love today’s Assyrians have for their music. After all, people do not change that much, really, not even over thousands of years. That goes for the Assyrians, as well. They really have not changed that much, except for their religion.

Much like today’s Assyrians, my ancient ancestors must have loved to dance. Dance flows in our blood. Did the ancient, then, dance the khigga? The tolama? The shora? The hoberban? The tanzara?

Oh, yes, the sheikhani?

The word sheikhani is derived from bishkhana, meaning “warming up.” Legend goes that the Assyrian soldiers and hunters danced to some form of the sheikhani beat to warm up before going into action. I can only imagine that powerful picture.

How far back the sheikhani goes in our history I don’t know. Nor do I know the ages of our other dances popular today. Are they hundreds of years old? Thousands perhaps? What is obvious is that often dancing is a descriptive but complex act performed to a certain type of music. I suppose you can also dance without music, especially if you’ve had one too many glasses of khamra. Ancient Assyrians must have had music to dance the sheikhani, khigga, tolama, shora, hoberban, tanzara, and who knows how many other dances that might have disappeared into the pages of history.

It is that music which fires my curiosity. About which I often fantasize. I wish I knew what it was. What it sounded like. How it was played. And who sang it or played it. Perhaps our scholars know and I am no Assyrian scholar.

“Music is well said to be the speech of angels,” wrote Thomas Carlyle, the 19th century Scottish historian and philosopher. “In fact, nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near the Infinite.”

Yes it is. And it does. Of course, the music of my ancestors I hear in my Assyrian soul. Always have. Always will. Yet, I would love to hear it with my ears as well, sung or played in a village somewhere in northern Iraq or in Urmia in northwest Iran. I can just imagine myself mesmerized by the music that in all likelihood is as close to the original that my Assyrian ancestors sang and played.

Perhaps someday I shall. For now, I’ll take pleasure in the music of my ancestors in modern dress. Please join me for this unforgettable experience at the fourth annual Mesopotamian Night gala concert and fundraising event, August 21, at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California.

The show’s first half spotlights Assyrian music in the western classical tradition, with the 50-piece Mesopotamia Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Kendall Bailey.

The musical feast includes Assyryt Suite No. 2, an orchestral arrangement by the French composer Michel Bosc of Paulus Khofri’s works. Bosc’s Ninos and Shamiram, a cantata for soprano, tenor and orchestra, set to Yosip Bet Yosip’s poem, recreates a portrait of tender love between the Assyrian nobleman Ninos and the beautiful shepherdess Shamiram. George Somi’s orchestral suite The Assyrian Legacy and Sam Madoo’s arrangement of William Daniel’s music for string quartet round out the exciting first half of the program.

Following a big auction of Assyrian art, the great Assyrian singer and song writer Walter Aziz sweeps over the Mesopotamian Night stage in the second half with an exciting fare of Assyrian popular songs, accompanied by the Mesopotamia Symphony Orchestra, and spiked with a hearty dose of ballet and dance, in sparkling Assyrian costumes, by the Presidio Dance Theatre, choreographed and danced by Sherene Melania.

This is one of those rarities in the Assyrian performing arts that I hope can become a standard around the world. Our arts are a symbol of who we are as a nation, where we come from and where we are going. And like the arts of any nation, they need a willing audience, and often a helping hand.

“Without music, life would be an error,” wrote the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche. We Assyrians have always known that, for we have worn the rich history of our music on our sleeve, to take wherever we go.


Obelit Yadgar
Writer and Master of Ceremonies
obieyadgar.com

WALTER AZIZ MUSICAL

Obelit Yadgar has been called the intellectual force behind our Mesopotamian Night project. Read here his insightful new article about this year's Mesopotamian Night musical production.
To say Walter Aziz could sing before he could walk is a safe bet. A safer bet yet is to say he was born with a loving song in his whistle — for his nation. Either way, this consummate pop singer has been on a musical journey for Assyria much of his life, entertaining live audiences around the world and recording one hit after another.

Aziz lights up the Mesopotamian Night stage this year accompanied by the 50-piece Mesopotamia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Kendall Bailey, with members of the Mesopotamia Choir Ensemble directed by Fred Elieh, and dancers from San Francisco’s Presidio Dance Theatre, led by Artistic Director and Principal Dancer and Choreographer Sherene Melania.

The Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS-A) presents this fourth annual Mesopotamian Night gala performance and fundraising event August 21 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. As in previous productions, the evening splits between classical and popular Assyrian music to entertain every taste.

The show’s first half offers a feast of Assyrian classical music that includes Assyryt Suite No. 2, an orchestral arrangement by the French composer Michel Bosc of solo piano pieces by the late Assyrian composer Paulus Khofri.

Using the poetic setting by Yosip Bet Yosip, Bosc takes off in a different direction with the cantata Ninos and Shamiran. The cantata, for coloratura soprano, tenor and orchestra, paints a portrait of tender love between the Assyrian nobleman Ninos and the beautiful shepherdess Shamiram.

George Somi’s lush orchestral suite The Assyrian Legacy and Sam Madoo’s arrangement of William Daniel’s music for string quartet round out the exciting first half of the program.

Following a big auction of Assyrian art by artists such as Paul Batou, Odette Tomik and other renowned Assyrians, Aziz and company take over the Mesopotamian Night stage in the second half with an exciting fare of Assyrian pop songs spiced up with ballet and dance in a riot of colorful costumes. “You’re in for a dazzling show of Assyrian popular music with Walter Aziz as never before experienced,” promises Tony Khoshaba, AAS-A Central Valley president and Mesopotamian Night producer.

That all proceeds are destined to brighten the lives of Assyrians suffering a storm of tragedies in their homeland of Iraq makes the Mesopotamian Night gala production a must for Assyrians everywhere. Please join us, not only for the privilege of helping Assyrians in need but also for the experience of a memorable evening of music and dance emblazoned with Assyria’s proud signature. This is the dazzling portrait of Assyrian arts and culture blossoming in creative hands.

With 10 songs, arranged and orchestrated by Edwin Elieh (no relation to Fred Elieh), Aziz sweeps across a musical spectrum of his big hits and lesser-known works. Dashta d’ Nineveh Deyan Eala (Nineveh Plain is Ours), Malikta d’ Khayee (Queen of My Life) and Atour Bet Khayah (Assyria Shall Live), among others, are sure to be crowd pleasers. Aziz also throws in two songs from his new CD, Assyrian Hope, due for release on the day of the concert.

“The audience undoubtedly will experience something new in the way Assyrian popular music is presented,” Aziz says. “With the symphony orchestra, the company of dancers, the quartet of back-up singers, Assyrian popular music will climb new heights and soar with all kinds of possibilities.”

Much credit for the second half of the show’s Broadway musical air goes to Elieh’s arrangement and orchestration of the Aziz songs. Unlike Broadway musicals, however, starting with Oklahoma, the 1936 hit by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II in which each song carried the storyline forward, the Mesopotamian Night Assyrian pop musical revue is without a specific storyline.

“Each individual song has its own story,” explains Elieh, “but there’s no continuous story from one song to the next. In other words, the songs are not interrelated. They’re like juke box musicals which are based on the songs of one singer.”

Elieh points out that arranging and orchestrating Assyrian traditional and modern songs sometimes proves to be a difficult task. Because many rely on a simple arrangement of a rhythm section with bass and keyboard, the songs are not appropriate for orchestration, he maintains. “If I just orchestrate the song, it won’t be all that different from the original,” he says. “It won’t be good either, because just orchestrating the song will not be enough.”

Elieh draws a fine line between orchestrating a song and arranging it. In essence, he explains, the song must be arranged in such a way so that an orchestra can play it. He keeps the song’s basic structure — rhythm and chord progression — and from there, he not only orchestrates the song but also arranges it for orchestra. That’s what he has done for the Walter Aziz songs in the show. “In the end,” he adds, “what we have is a song orchestrated and arranged for a singer with an orchestra.”

Aziz recalls that when Khoshaba asked him to perform with a symphony orchestra, he, Aziz, wanted to know who would write the scores and the charts. Khoshaba mentioned Elieh, a talented young Assyrian musician and arranger who currently studies film scoring at UCLA. Aziz remembered Elieh from playing the opening acts for some of the Assyrian weddings and parties he headlined.

“I didn’t know he was a musical arranger and that he was learning musical scoring at a university,” Aziz says. “I wanted an Assyrian to do the arranging and orchestrating. That was important to me and it would make me proud to have an Assyrian musician to do the work.”

Aziz says he is pleased with Elieh’s arrangement and orchestration of his songs. He also admits that working with a symphony orchestra is something altogether new for him. “This will be the first time we don’t have drums or a heavy beat,” he notes. “The music is converted to a little classical.”

What also delights Aziz is the added dimension of ballet and dance to his music. He admits that aside from working with a symphony orchestra for the first time, working with dance is another new experience for him.

“It will be a fun show, because people will have so many things to see and so many different ways to relate to the performance,” says Melania. “This will be an unusual performance. There are Assyrian groups that focus on the dancing, but there aren’t any that mix ballet with traditional Assyrian steps. It’s a new kind of fusion that people will find interesting.”

Melania emphasizes that with the authentic and colorful Assyrian costumes, made by the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she studied dance, as well as some made in Turkey, the Presidio Dance Theatre will bring the songs to life and give the audience a visual picture of the music.

What’s more, she points out, this is one of those rarities where the orchestra shares the stage with the singers and the dancers, thus adding a further dimension to the concert. “It’s really a culmination of the performing arts at their finest,” she says.

Two companies make up the Presidio Dance Theatre’s corps of dancers. The adult company, including principal Melania, has 12 dancers, and the youth company carries 40. For the Assyrian musical review, eight dancers each from the adult and the youth companies will perform. Melania is the principal soloist for the women dancers and Norberto Martinez the principal soloist for the men.

Melania’s choreography, in addition to that by guest choreographer Ahmet Leleci of the Collage Dance Ensemble, headquartered in both San Francisco and Boston, will frame the Aziz songs in a colorful and brilliant blending of the East and the West.

“It’s going to be a mix of Assyrian folk dance and classical ballet,” she explains. “A couple of the songs will be more just ballet, and some arm movements will be more Assyrian. Each song will require its own distinct choreography. For instance, we use for one of the pieces the sheikhani. Another piece is about a wedding, so we’ll have the bride and groom do a duet based on that.”

With a production worthy of Ashurbanipal’s courtly celebrations, perhaps the Mesopotamian Night pop music review with Walter Aziz will set a trend to create similar Assyrian productions around the world. “Yes, absolutely,” says Aziz. “I hope all Assyrian singers will see this as the first step to enhance and make our music known to the world.”


Obelit Yadgar
Writer and Master of Ceremonies
obieyadgar.com

The Assyrian Legacy

"The Assyrian Legacy" is a creation of young Assyrian composer George Somi which will be premiered at Mesopotamian Night 2010. In the article below, Obelit Yadgar is giving us a nice insight into this interesting piece of music.

Assyrian symphonic music is rare. Rather, ours is predominantly folk, church and popular music for voice, solo instrument or small ethnic ensemble. Surprisingly, for a musical nation known for the magnitude of art it has contributed to the world throughout the centuries, we have failed to embrace symphonic music. I can only hope in time that creative gap will close and that our new composers will create great works in the medium.

The good news, thanks to the Mesopotamian Night gala concert performances in the past four years, is that the noted French composer Michel Bosc and the equally prominent American John Craton have enriched the Assyrian musical sphere with impressive orchestral and operatic creations from works by William Daniel and Paulos Khofry. Also of note is the Assyrian composer Samuel Khangaldy’s oratorio Gilgamesh, a work in progress of which the overture was premiered at the 2009 concert to exceptionally high praise.

In their youth, the Hungarian composers Bela Bartok (1881-1945) and Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967), armed with recording machines, traveled throughout the countryside and collected vast amounts of Hungarian folk melodies. Years later they used those same melodies as settings for some of their great symphonic works.

Assyrian composers have a wealth of folk and traditional melodies at hand to inspire major symphonic and chamber compositions. The music does not necessarily have to be in the western classical tradition, maintains the young Assyrian composer George Somi, though he would like to see some heading in that direction.

Somi premieres selected movements from his orchestral suite The Assyrian Legacy at the Mesopotamian Night concert and art auction, August 21, at the Gallo Center for the Arts, in Modesto, California. Proceeds benefit needy Iraqi Assyrians.

In eight descriptive movements, the approximately 35-minute long work sweeps across Assyrian history with snapshots of a people’s bittersweet journey. “It illustrates the history of the Assyrian people through music much like motion picture sound tracks follow their respective stories via music,” explains Somi. “The piece has several motifs, each representing a particular emotion from, pride and triumph to sorrow and despair.”

The suite begins with Assyria’s glorious emergence as a world power. Intertwining various melodies, the second movement celebrates the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Hammurabi’s Law Codes are recognized in the third. The fourth movement sketches the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C.

“The fifth movement follows the second golden age of Assyrians: the rise of the Church of the East,” says Somi. “The main emotion I try to convey in this piece is hope. I incorporate church hymns into a thematic orchestration, not only conveying the story of the Assyrians, but also bestowing a sense of glory to the hymns.” The movement’s highlight is the five-part choir singing Ashen ammeh zmareykon.

Somi frames the sixth movement around the period of the Muslim conquest from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries. “Though unrelated to Assyrians initially,” he notes, “the Muslim conquest would have dire consequences for Assyrians. It features discernibly Arab melodies, outlining not just the effect on Assyrians, but the rise of great Muslim cities like Damascus and Baghdad.”

In the seventh movement, he further expands the Muslim conquest’s direct effect on the Assyrians by painting a tragic picture of the genocide committed against our people. Starting with a solo piano playing a sad but hopeful melody, Somi lets the orchestra build on it, culminating in a march meant to symbolize the fight and strength still left in the Assyrians. “This covers the formation of Zow’aa, possibly the first Assyrian national political party since the fall of Nineveh,” he points out.

Yet in all the tragedy that marks the tumultuous journey of the Assyrians, Somi looks for a bright light in the eighth movement by reprising melodies and themes from previous movements as Assyrians celebrate in the promise of hope. At the same time, his music leaves a sense of a story that is, indeed, unfinished.

“The way I see it,” Somi says, “the story of the Assyrians has not concluded. They recovered from defeat once in history. They still retain a hope to persevere through modern times.”

Somi, who was born in Chicago, in 1988, exhibited a profound love for music early on. His mother recalls that at age 3, after hearing someone play the song “Happy Birthday” on the piano, he slipped behind the keyboard and repeated the song almost note by note. At age 7, he began piano studies. After moving to Phoenix, AZ, he joined the school band, playing tenor saxophone. “From then on,” he admits, “music became an integral part of who I was.”

A year later he was playing lead tenor in the Peoria Honor Jazz Band in Phoenix. “I fell in love with jazz in that year and have been playing it ever since,” Somi says. Although he gives a big nod to the jazz saxophone greats such Charlie Parker, Lester Young, John Coltrane and Dexter Gordon, he says Eric Marienthal, the lead alto for the Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, has captured his imagination with his solos. “They’re so funky and hip,” he says, “it’s hard not to get into it.”

Somi admits to having little interest in popular music, western or Assyrian, and, therefore, hears no discernible influence on his music from this genre. Although no expert on Assyrian popular music, Somi says, if he were to pick a favorite Assyrian popular artist, it would be singer and composer Ashur Bet Sargis for his intricate and well thought out melodies. “I believe Mr. Bet Sargis has the widest, most effective range of music,” he adds, “from lively tunes to ballads.”

Somi believes the biggest influence on his symphonic music comes from film and video-game composers such as John Williams, James Horner, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri and Jerry Goldsmith, among others. “I am frequently told that my music sounds like it belongs in movies or video games,” he says. One thing he does not believe in, he says, is composing filler music, something that is there just to lengthen the piece. Rather, he prefers strong melodies counter melodies.

At the same time, he points out that if he had to choose an Assyrian musical genre with the most influence on him as a composer, it would be Assyrian church music. “My command of our church hymns is in direct correlation with the fresh take on the them in the fifth movement of The Assyrian Legacy,” Somi explains.

Currently, while pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ, Somi plays lead tenor in Yavapai College’s Big Band II. He also serves as organist at the St. George Ancient Church of the East, in Phoenix. It is no surprise that the congregation has nicknamed him Beethoven.

“One of those impossible wishes I’ve had for a while now is to have been present at the premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony,” Somi says. “I know it would have brought tears to my eyes and made every hair on my body stand on end.”

Well, of course, that reaction is expected from a composer who, like the great Beethoven, began composing when only a boy. Somi wrote his first song at age 12. “Taking Action” was one of 12 songs chosen for performance at a musical event at the Phoenix Civic Plaza.

He began thinking seriously about composing music while a sophomore in high school. It was then that he realized how sparse Assyrian symphonic music was. How ironic, he believes, a nation that invented music and music notation is so poorly acquainted with it. Further, he believes music to be an integral part of a nation’s culture and that Assyrians must develop that.

A sense of duty to the Assyrian nation, as well as strong encouragement from his mother to write something about the Assyrians, led to his work on The Assyrian Legacy. He started the suite in his sophomore year in high school and still thinks the work is unfinished. Somi says he hopes The Assyrian Legacy is appropriate for an important event such as Mesopotamian Night gala concert.

“Music is one of the things that holds a culture together,” he says. “Call it a cultural epoxy. With our youth growing up in several nations across the world, we cannot afford to have a weak epoxy to hold us together. It must be stronger than ever.”

Obelit Yadgar
Writer and Master of Ceremonies

Ninos and Shamiram

Music: Michel Bosc
Poem: Yosip Bet Yosip


(painting: courtesy of Paul Batou, Los Angles)

The world knows her as Semiramis, Semiramide, Sammu-Rammat, Samira, Shamiram. To us, the Assyrians, she is simply Shamiram.

Numerous operas are based on this mythical Assyrian, including Semiramide by Domenico Cimarosa, Marcos Portugal, and, the most famous, Gioacchino Rossini. Now enter the cantata Ninos and Shamiram by the French composer Michel Bosc and the Assyrian poet Yosip Bet Yosip.

The cantata is among the highlights in this year’s Mesopotamian Night, a gala production of Assyrian classical and popular music with dance, on August 21, at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. In its fourth year, the Mesopotamian Night series is presented by the Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS-A) not only to showcase the Assyrian classical and popular performing arts but also to raise funds through tickets and its art auction for needy Iraqi Assyrians.

Many myths and legends surround the beautiful and shrewd Babylonian princess who became the Assyrian queen. According to one legend, a shepherd found Shamiram, born in the desert and reared by doves. Some historical accounts of her later life note Shamiram married King Shamsi-Adad V (or VII), and after his death, she ruled for a short time, until Adad-nirari III (or IV) ascended the Assyrian throne.

Shamiram appears as queen and goddess in some Assyrian mythological accounts of her life, and that she was the daughter of the fish goddess. Not only was she the founder of Babylon, Shamiram also gets the dubious credit for inventing the chastity belt, and also for being the first to turn young boys into eunuchs by castrating them. According one legend, she married King Ninos, who founded Nineveh, and after his death, ruled for many years. Her end came at the hands of her son. Finally, the beautiful Shamiram turned into dove and flew away.

Somewhere between myth and reality lies the truth about Shamiram’s life. Either way, this remarkable and colorful Assyrian legend continues as an ideal subject for literary and operatic works. Rabi Yosip’s song-poem, Ninos and Shamiram is one such example, set to Bosc’s musical score.

Rabi Yosip’s Ninos and Shamiram had its origin in an Assyrian song-poem he had heard in his teens in Tehran. Sung by a friend named Nimrod, from a mountain village in Urmia, the story was part of the Assyrian oral tradition, passed on from one generation to the next. It told of an encounter in a lush valley in the mountains between a hunter and a shepherdess.

Both melody and poem were different from what they are now, recalls Rabi Yosip. The poem had Persian, Turkish and Kurdish mixed in with Assyrian. It had rhyme but no meter. “Some years later I reshaped and refined the poem to reflect our Assyrian culture,” he says. “I also re-shaped the melody to make it happier, more romantic and beautiful.”

In the following years, as he matured in age and his knowledge of Assyrian history grew, he revised and expanded the poem into a more literary work. He also made some changes in the melody. By then he had heard many myths about the legendary King Ninos, who had met a shepherdess in the dessert named Shamiram and made her his queen. Elements from all the stories, myths and legends about Ninos and Shamiram found their way in various forms into Rabi Yosip’s new version.

Finally he titled his song-poem Ninos and Shamiram, transposing the characters of King Ninos and Queen Shamiram into a young prince named Ninos and a beautiful shepherdess named Shamiram, who steals his heart and compels him to ask she go with him home to Nineveh.

“I will come with you,” she says, “for your love has pierced my heart, too.” When she asks who he is and where he comes from, he answers, “My name is Ninos, the son of the high priest Nahrin.” Shamiram tells him that he is not a hunter, but a shepherd like her. “I of flock,” she adds, “you of people.” Ninos asks, “Queen of beauty of these hills, what is your name?”

She was named after a dove, she explains, and goes on to tell the story of how a dove perched on her cradle, and that when it flew away, it left a small feather on her chest. She says she has kept the feather in the hope that someday it will lead her to the dove. “That is why they decided to call me Shamiram,” she says, “which means ‘A Name Exalted.’ ”

Rabi Yosip’s poetry soars with imagination, weaving myth and legend with historical data. Most of all, the words are those of an Assyrian poet whose love of his nation sparkles with the romantic imagery in the song-poem Ninos and Shamiram.

“Yosip Bet Yosip is one of our finest poets with a deep knowledge of our folkloric tradition,” says Tony Khoshaba, AAS-A Central Valley president and Mesopotamian Night producer. He points to the song-poem’s contrasting themes of a village girl’s simplicity in Shamiram and a prince’s urban sophistication in Ninos, and that the subject holds vast interest in any culture. He also feels Ninos and Shamiram was especially ripe for a Mesopotamian Night musical. “In general any love story tied to mythology makes an interesting story,” he explains, “but I let Michel decide whether it would be a good musical subject.”

Michel Bosc had already worked on previous year’s Mesopotamian Night production. One act from his opera Qateeni Gabbara was presented at the 2009 gala performance. Based on William Daniel’s Assyrian Epic, Qateeni Gabbara is still a work in progress.

Also for the 2009 production, Bosc had orchestrated solo piano works by the Assyrian composer Paulus Khofri into a suite titled Assyryt. The first part was presented in the 2009 concert as Assyryt Suite No. 1. Assyryt Suite No. 2 is in the lineup for this year’s program.

“I had confidence in Michel and in his commitment to deliver a superb work,” says Khoshaba. “He is a genuine artist whose work has a certain charisma. But I also think he liked the story.”

Ninos and Shamiram is written as a cantata for soprano and tenor with orchestra. The cantata, from the Italian word cantare, meaning “to sing,” was a relatively large 17th-century secular work in operatic style for one or two singers with accompaniment. It continued to evolve into a more elaborate work that included secular and religious texts.

Johann Sebastian Bach transformed the cantata to include soloists, chorus and orchestra, producing some 200 church cantatas. Since the late 18th century, the cantata has further evolved into a choral religious or secular work with orchestra and with or without soloists.

“I decided on a cantata in the baroque sense, with an overture and several movements,” Bosc points out. “It makes the story more intimate and the reading easier and clearer. It’s more operatic, too.”

To bring out the cantata’s colors and sensuality, he wanted a symphony orchestra with harp, harpsichord and celesta. To that, he added bells, cymbals, vibraphone and glockenspiel. Bosc explains he set out to create in the cantata something personal, since he already feels part of the Assyrian community. “Ninos and Shamiram is also universal,” he adds. “It begins with a real Assyrian theme, but the rest is mine.”

Bosc admits he was drawn to the story of Ninos and Shamiram. He especially saw beauty and magic in the character of Shamiram, that she is proud and free like the Assyrian soul. “I loved her at once,” he says, “and I decided to write for a high coloratura soprano, and to offer her a virtuoso piece.”

Ninos and Shamiram must reach beyond the Assyrian concert hall, Bosc notes. The world must discover it. Part of his plan to give the cantata a universal face is already in place: Ninos and Shamiram will be published in France. “This culture must be discovered and must travel,” he says. “I want every singer to be able to sing this Assyrian legend.”

Obelit Yadgar
Writer and Master of Ceremonies
www.obieyadgar.com

ASSYRYT SUITE NO. 2

By Paulus Khofri
Arranged and orchestrated by Michel Bosc



Mesopotamian Nights for 2010 continues to explore Rabi Paulus Khofri’s compositions orchestrated by the renowned French composer Michel Bosc. If you have never heard it, expect to be surprised by the sheer beauty of Assyrian music for a symphony orchestra.

Khofri (1923-2000) composed mounds of vocal and instrumental music that celebrates the Assyrian spirit. He published these works collectively in several books. Assyryt (“Assyrian Diamond”), from 1984, comprises a large collection of Assyrian folk pieces for piano solo contained in Book No. 3.

French composer Michel Bosc, commissioned by the Assyrian Aid Society to orchestrate Assyryt for the 2009 Mesopotamian Nights Gala Concert, chose 20 pieces from this collection for a suite. Assyryt Suite No. 1, containing 10 pieces, was a highlight in the 2009 concert. For the 2010 program, the evening will offer Assyryt Suite No. 2.

“Paulus Khofri writes for a large audience,” notes Bosc, “and the orchestra brings out a lot of color.” Bosc liked Assyryt the first time he heard it. “I felt as if I were traveling across the entire Assyrian culture,” he says.

The conservatory-trained Khofri lets his music to not only breathe with a purely Assyrian folk sound, but sometimes to also soar in the Western classical tradition. The result is an Assyrian sound that is magical.

When he began work on orchestrating Assyryt, Bosc explains, he heard a distinct European influence in Khofri’s music. For Bosc, the music had Mozartian inspiration with Assyrian harmonic colors and ornamentation. “You feel he was erudite,” Bosc adds. “But sometimes he takes a breath and the music becomes purely Assyrian. It’s like a wind of freedom, very surprising and delicious.”

Before starting his orchestration of Assyryt, Bosc recalls listening to a vast amount of Khofri’s music to get a sense of the composer’s orchestral style. He read the original piano score over and over again, and played it, until he felt as if he had composed the music himself. Although the music was clear, light, easy to play and intimate, Bosc explains he found orchestrating it a challenge nevertheless.

“I wanted to respect this music and never change it or add a single note,” he points out. “That was a challenge, because the original score is a miniature and could have been re-written with more voices or heavy chords before being translated into a full orchestra.”

What makes Assyryt Suite especially enticing is the French baroque sheen, notably that of Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), that Bosc brushes over the Assyrian folkloric spirit of Khofri’s music. This is extraordinary and befitting the classical tone of the Mesopotamian Nights Gala.

“Just enjoy the music and be proud of this master,” Bosc advises. “This music is written for dreaming and singing.”

Obelit Yadgar
Writer & Master of Ceremonies
www.obieyadgar.com

CELEBRATING ASSYRIAN ARTS

We Assyrians lost our original homeland a long time ago. In the following centuries, our path led us to all corners of the world, where we found new homes.

Despite mountains of tragedy and strife cluttering our path since the fall of the Assyrian empire, and no matter where in history, we never lost sight of who we are, what we are, and where we come from.

Nor did we lose our profound love, respect and appreciation for Assyrian arts. After all, a nation’s arts are parts of its identity. They are its soul. They remain so today for Assyrians the world over. That’s why I am ecstatic to see Mesopotamian Nights become an important center for the Assyrian performing arts.

For the past four years, thanks to the sponsorship by the Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS-A), Assyrian performing arts have exploded as more and more musical works are written, transcribed, arranged and, consequently, performed to carve our own niche in the international catalog of classical music and dance.

Watching and listening as writer and master of ceremonies for Mesopotamian Nights, I am filled with pride knowing that if we had it once upon a time, we can have it again. All it takes is to throw open the window and let our arts spread wings.

That all proceeds from Mesopotamian Nights performance and auction go toward helping our fellow Assyrians in Iraq makes the event so much more part of the Assyrian identity.

This year’s program, as in previous years, is packed with a musical extravaganza fit for Ashurbanipal’s courtly celebration. From Assyrian opera to symphonic music, Broadway-style Assyrian musical to ballet, Mesopotamian Nights promises a dazzling feast of Assyrian performing arts.

Please join me for a great evening of Assyrian music and camaraderie Saturday, August 21, at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you.

Obelit Yadgar
Writer & Master of Ceremonies
www.obieyadgar.com

Obelit Yadgar's Interview with Qateeni Opera Singers

The video clip below is part of a series of interview presented in the Mesopotamian Night 2009 DVD.

A RIOT OF ASSYRIAN ARTS

Assyrian arts and culture once again soar in a riot of musical color as the Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS-A) presents the 2010 Mesopotamian Nights concert.

The fourth annual Assyrian musical extravaganza spotlights AAS-A’s fundraising auction on August 21 at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, California. All proceeds go toward making life a bit easier for the Assyrians in Iraq.

This year’s fare offers a tasty menu of Assyrian orchestral and operatic music spiced up by a Broadway-style Assyrian musical. A 41-piece symphony orchestra, singers and dancers light up the evening with a musical treat that will set toes to tapping and spirits to flying.

The program includes Assyryt Suite No. 2, a silky orchestral arrangement of Paulus Khofri’s songs by the French composer Michel Bosc.

Ninos and Semiramis: a love story, also by Michel Bosc, is a lovely cantata, that is a work for a group of singers, set to poems by Yosip Bet Yosip.

Assyrian composer Sam Madoo, on commission from Mesopotamian Nights, showcases his arrangements for string quartet of several songs by the legendary Assyrian composer William Daniel.

Mesopotamian Nights turns to George Somi, another young and talented Assyrian classical music composer, for excerpts from his orchestral suite The Assyrian Legacy.

Finally, the popular Assyrian singer Walter Aziz and musician and arranger Edwin Elieh collaborate on a rollicking Broadway-style Assyrian musical packed with delightful surprises.

Matthew Buckman, Towsend Opera Players executive director, is musical director and stage manager. John Kendal Bailey conducts.

No matter what your musical taste, there’s something here to put trumpets in your voice and fanfares in your heart. Please join me for a celebration of music, food and wine, plus a chance to bid on a fine selection of auction premiums at Mesopotamian Nights.

Obelit Yadgar
Writer & Master of Ceremonies
www.obieyadgar.com