14-09-2008
for Music Fund in Innsbruck, Austria
Yesterday, I have been travelling all day from Belgium to Innsbruck with Pol De Winter's trailer.
The music festival Klangspuren is presenting the documentary film "The Exchange" and invited me for a debate following the film. This festival has also organised a campaign to collect music instruments for Music Fund and the result is that my trailer is too small to take everything. Besides a number of smaller instruments, one baby grand piano (Blütner), 3 more upright pianos are being proposed, all double-checked as instruments which are in very good condition, by Mr Moser, the local piano-expert working for the festival.
I attended a number of concerts in the festival programme, amongst which a concert by Nikel, a music ensemble founded by friends from Tel Aviv, guitar-player Yaron Deutsch and composer Sivan Cohen-Elias. The works I liked most in the concert where those by Sivan Cohen-Elias and Ruben Seroussi.
Today, the festival presented the documentary film "The Exchange". It was interesting how different Europeans, Israelis and Palestinians react to the film. It is mostly appreciated by those out here, who are not part of the conflict. People from the region expect all kinds of statements or analysis, something which the film - fortunately - does not provide. Instead, "The Exchange" is a wonderful road-movie throughout the region, with visits in Ramallah, Gaza, Nazareth, Nablus and Tel Aviv. All very different worlds, with very different people, with very different realities and perspectives. In the film, people from over there are telling the spectator about their making music and the conditions in which they are trying to make this happening. The more I see the film, the more I myself love it.
debate on music and political engagement
In the festival Klangspuren in Innsbruck (Tirol, Austria) I attended a debate amongst composers concerning their engagement towards what happens in the world. It was a very interesting debate indeed. It made me think about my own position and ideas concerning this question.
Last century, Schönberg in debate with Eisler defended that everyone should be doing that what he/she can do best, and then do this as good as possible. This according to Schönberg is our best way to do what society may expect from us. I completely agree with this position.
08-09-2008
Music Fund goes to Gaza and Nablus
We have our crew together for our journey to Gaza and Nablus in the end of October: in support of the new music school in Gaza, we will be sending 4 instrument experts to Gaza (Pol De Winter and Olivier Marie, piano, Christian Bertram, guitars, and Baptiste Argouarc'h, string instruments).
String-instrument technician Baptiste Argouarc'h is French. He works in the wonderful atelier of Jan Strick in Brussels.
Christian Bertram is repairing guitars in his workshop in Liberchies in Wallonie, the French-speaking part of Belgium.
Pol De Winter is with us as our backbone for pianos. Pol has been with Music Fund from the very beginning. He was already several times with me in the Middle East, also the first time when we brought many music instruments in a large truck. His workshop Pianomobil is in Antwerp, in the Flemish part of Belgium.
And finally also Olivier Marie will be with us in Gaza and Nablus: a French piano-expert, who is since April living and working for Music Fund in Nablus, where he is developing a training centre at the music school of our partner Nablus the Culture. Olivier is training 5 Palestinians in the art of tuning and repairing pianos.
A wonderful equipe all together !
We will be staying 10 days between 30th October and 9th November. Part of it we hope to spend in Gaza, and part of it in Nablus. The aim is to give initiation workshops in the art of repairing music instruments, as well as helping our partnerschools to get their music instruments in good condition.
02-09-2008
guitars from Barenboim-Said Foundation to Gaza
Guitars which Music Fund donated to the Barenboim-Said Foundation in Ramallah will now be transferred to the new music school which the A.M. Al-Qattan Foundation is creating in Gaza this month. It is wonderful to hear that these instruments which have originally been donated to us by individuals in Belgium, France or Germany, are having such exciting new lives, creating opportunities for young people in the Westbank as well as in Gaza.
As all our instruments can be identified, we know which instruments are making these journeys, so we can inform their former owners about what is now happening to their former instruments.
