Posts
What an adventure the past couple of days have been! I thought the trip was starting off too slowly and now opportunities are popping up out of nowhere. Yesterday, I was invited by Uri Ben David of the Jezreel Valley Arts Center to an opening of a branch of the Arab Israel Bank in an Arab village near Nazareth. This bank donates a large amount of money to the center's Mifne project (read about it here: http://www.musicalvalley.co.il) so the students in the project performed at the opening of this branch. Their was a recorder ensemble, a violin solo by Telemann, and two vocal pieces in Arabic sung by two girls from the Shani Choir. Among the speakers at this event were executives of the bank and the mayor of the village who was kind enough to give me a brief interview. I was graciously given a ride to the event by the Arts Center's International Relations Director, Zohar Dayan, who gave me a few more connections for my project (including a possible connection to Israeli musician and peace activist David Broza, who has collaborated with Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Bono, Sting and others).
This morning, I made my way back to Ein Bustan where I was given permission to film their Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony they have every Thursday, complete with musical accompaniment by their founder, Amir Shlomian. I was also able to film a lot of the children playing outside. Pictures will be up on my facebook soon. After the parents came to pick up their children, I interviewed two of the teachers, Gibi and Ibtisam, as well as one of the parents, with Amir translating.
Tonight, Amir and I went to a cafe where he gave me an amazing hour-long interview covering a wide-variety of topics, including the story of how he founded the school, the role of music in Waldorf education and how they've incorporated it into their school, his own attitude towards peace efforts and even his philosophy concerning what Peace will look like. It was an awesome interview that I hope will turn out well in the editing process.
Sunday I am trying to get out to Tzfat to spend the day with Yair Dalal, then Monday I will get to interview some of the girls from the Shani Choir. Next Thursday I will spend the day with George Samaan (look him up, he's awesome). Other than that, I have more connections to contact and fill up all of that time in between.
I really can't describe how great the project is turning out so far and I'm sure it can only get better. I haven't even made it to Jerusalem yet. I still have almost an entire month left in Israel, and I want to fill up at least 11-16 more hours of film.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Jezreel Valley Multicultural Center for the Arts
Today I made my way to Mizra where I visited the the Jezreel Valley Multicultural Center for the Arts. This is located at a meeting point between Jewish, Arab, and mixed communities, just 20 minutes east of Tivon, and an equally short distance from Nazareth, home to a mostly Christian-Arab population. The music dept. of this arts center is a conservatory for young musicians studying classical, jazz, modern, and even middle eastern music. The student body is about 70% Jewish and 30% Arab, the latter split halfway between Christians and Muslims.
My invitation to visit came from Uri Ben-David, the Director of Music Projects. He was extremely enthusiastic about my project and made sure to introduce me to everyone who could be of some help or a possible interview. He kindly made time to give me a full interview himself. He has been involved in bringing together Arabs and Jews in a musical setting for 10 years now. After we discussed his own philosophy on the peace process and the role of music and other cultural enrichment programs as methods of bringing together the two different peoples, he introduced me to the Shani Choir.
Shani is an all-female choir of 24 Jews and Arabs, aged 12 to 18. They all take voice lessons at the center and perform together around Israel and internationally. Their concerts have taken them to America, Denmark, and even the Vatican where they performed for Pope Benedict XVI. These remarkable young women transcend the cultural barrier so easily and gracefully, it's really inspiring.
After filming the choir for a bit, I visited a few other classes, all instrumental, with the same sort of comfortable atmosphere where the background of the students isn't thought about, only their musicianship. I then interviewed the conductor of the Shani Choir, Pnina Inbar, on her way out after their rehearsal ended.
The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra has now become involved in the multicultural arts center, funding joint projects and even looking at musicians from the school as potential future members of the orchestra. Maestro Zubin Mehta, the principal conductor of the IPO, is similarly interested in Arabs and Jews playing music side-by-side.
At the end of the day I had the pleasure of watching a recital of some of the students who were, to say the least, absolutely amazing. I will definitely be back at this location soon (I was invited to come to a concert tomorrow and film and interview more people).
My invitation to visit came from Uri Ben-David, the Director of Music Projects. He was extremely enthusiastic about my project and made sure to introduce me to everyone who could be of some help or a possible interview. He kindly made time to give me a full interview himself. He has been involved in bringing together Arabs and Jews in a musical setting for 10 years now. After we discussed his own philosophy on the peace process and the role of music and other cultural enrichment programs as methods of bringing together the two different peoples, he introduced me to the Shani Choir.
Shani is an all-female choir of 24 Jews and Arabs, aged 12 to 18. They all take voice lessons at the center and perform together around Israel and internationally. Their concerts have taken them to America, Denmark, and even the Vatican where they performed for Pope Benedict XVI. These remarkable young women transcend the cultural barrier so easily and gracefully, it's really inspiring.
After filming the choir for a bit, I visited a few other classes, all instrumental, with the same sort of comfortable atmosphere where the background of the students isn't thought about, only their musicianship. I then interviewed the conductor of the Shani Choir, Pnina Inbar, on her way out after their rehearsal ended.
The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra has now become involved in the multicultural arts center, funding joint projects and even looking at musicians from the school as potential future members of the orchestra. Maestro Zubin Mehta, the principal conductor of the IPO, is similarly interested in Arabs and Jews playing music side-by-side.
At the end of the day I had the pleasure of watching a recital of some of the students who were, to say the least, absolutely amazing. I will definitely be back at this location soon (I was invited to come to a concert tomorrow and film and interview more people).
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Ein Bustan
After making my way up north last night (finally), I began working today by going to Ein Bustan, a bi-lingual Waldorf kindergarten for Arab and Jewish children in the area. This school functions in both Hebrew and Arabic, raising the children in an environment where their cultures are accepted side-by-side. The school is split into two classes, one ages 3 and 4, the other 4-6. I began by visiting the younger class, taught by Gibi, a Jewish man, and Amna, an Arab woman. Keeping in the spirit of Waldorf education, they would spontaneously break into songs throughout the day that all of the children knew. The songs mostly related to nature since Tu B'Shvat, the Jewish holiday celebrating trees, is coming up soon. The Waldorf educational philosophy favors music as a form of communication, especially with younger children. The teachers at Ein Bustan lead the children in songs in both Hebrew and Arabic.
Shortly after I arrived, the children sat down to lunch, which they began with a non-religious blessing of the food in both Hebrew and Arabic. Afterwords, they went outside to play together.
I headed over to the older class where the children were much more outgoing and all wanted to speak to me in languages I don't understand. My only way of communicating with them was by smiling and nodding (although at one point, a little girl came and sat down next to me and we started to drum together on a table. I'm not sure what sort of communication was happening there, but she seemed to enjoy it a lot.)
The teachers of this older class, also one Jew and one Arab, weren't very fond of the idea of me filming them at all which really put a bit of an end to my day. I did get an opporunity to speak with the Jewish teachers for a bit (the Arab teachers spoke little to no English). My poor Hebrew and complete inability to speak Arabic has proven to be a much bigger obstacle than I thought, especially with children.
Yael, the Jewish woman who teaches the older class, is studying to get her degree in education. She told me that she's writing her thesis on why Waldorf classes try to only use pentatonic music when they sing together (for those who don't know the pentatonic scale, sing Amazing Grace). The pentatonic scale lacks the 4th and the 7th (F and B in C major or Fa and Ti). She claims that this gives it a much dreamier, less grounded feeling. She said that the scale was also much more pleasant to hear and more comfortable for the children. For those of us who speak music theory, we know that this is because the lack of a 4th and 7th completely eradicates the tritone, also known as the devils interval, and the minor 2nd, the two harshest and most dissonant intervals to the western ear. I wonder what the effect would be to only use this sort of music around a group of children who would otherwise grow up to fear and even hate each other.
I asked if there was a language barrier for the children, similar to the one I was experiencing. They conceded that there was, but the teachers try to overcome it by using both languages in daily conversation. Instead of teaching the children, "this is a fork, this is a table, this is a window," they merely use both words in Hebrew and Arabic to promote a more experientially educational atmosphere. (Big words there Amitai)
Ein Bustan is the only bi-lingual Waldorf school in Israel and, unfortunately, they end when the children move on to 1st grade. They are trying to build a continuing program, otherwise the options are for the children to either go to separate schools, or for the Arabs to go to the Hebrew speaking programs. This sadly diminishes the opporunity for them to grow up experiencing the cultures living right next door.
Tomorrow, I will be visiting a mixed Arab and Jewish choir, a project through the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Uri Ben-David. I will have a greater opportunity to film there.
Shortly after I arrived, the children sat down to lunch, which they began with a non-religious blessing of the food in both Hebrew and Arabic. Afterwords, they went outside to play together.
I headed over to the older class where the children were much more outgoing and all wanted to speak to me in languages I don't understand. My only way of communicating with them was by smiling and nodding (although at one point, a little girl came and sat down next to me and we started to drum together on a table. I'm not sure what sort of communication was happening there, but she seemed to enjoy it a lot.)
The teachers of this older class, also one Jew and one Arab, weren't very fond of the idea of me filming them at all which really put a bit of an end to my day. I did get an opporunity to speak with the Jewish teachers for a bit (the Arab teachers spoke little to no English). My poor Hebrew and complete inability to speak Arabic has proven to be a much bigger obstacle than I thought, especially with children.
Yael, the Jewish woman who teaches the older class, is studying to get her degree in education. She told me that she's writing her thesis on why Waldorf classes try to only use pentatonic music when they sing together (for those who don't know the pentatonic scale, sing Amazing Grace). The pentatonic scale lacks the 4th and the 7th (F and B in C major or Fa and Ti). She claims that this gives it a much dreamier, less grounded feeling. She said that the scale was also much more pleasant to hear and more comfortable for the children. For those of us who speak music theory, we know that this is because the lack of a 4th and 7th completely eradicates the tritone, also known as the devils interval, and the minor 2nd, the two harshest and most dissonant intervals to the western ear. I wonder what the effect would be to only use this sort of music around a group of children who would otherwise grow up to fear and even hate each other.
I asked if there was a language barrier for the children, similar to the one I was experiencing. They conceded that there was, but the teachers try to overcome it by using both languages in daily conversation. Instead of teaching the children, "this is a fork, this is a table, this is a window," they merely use both words in Hebrew and Arabic to promote a more experientially educational atmosphere. (Big words there Amitai)
Ein Bustan is the only bi-lingual Waldorf school in Israel and, unfortunately, they end when the children move on to 1st grade. They are trying to build a continuing program, otherwise the options are for the children to either go to separate schools, or for the Arabs to go to the Hebrew speaking programs. This sadly diminishes the opporunity for them to grow up experiencing the cultures living right next door.
Tomorrow, I will be visiting a mixed Arab and Jewish choir, a project through the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Uri Ben-David. I will have a greater opportunity to film there.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)