Kalamazoo has a large population from the Middle East and a community of professional musicians from all over the world.
However, the live performance of authentic Middle Eastern music, Bahar Ensemble Formed in 2017.
Bahar Ensemble co-founder and violinist Ahmed Tofiq points out that Kalamazoo has several Middle Eastern restaurants. “We have food, but how does the music taste? What does it feel like?”
It was the musical cuisine that he felt he needed to be in Kalamazoo.
Nearly five years later, the Bahar Ensemble is the last to perform, along with local jazz, bluegrass and folk bands. new years festmany unofficial neighborhood shows, and hits blissful celebration Put it under your belt.
Kalamazoo’s Bahar Ensemble features co-founders Ahmed Tofiq (violin), Liz Youker (cello), Beau Bothwell (oud), Dede Alder and Carolyn Koebel (percussion). The Kalamazoo community welcomes the sound Tofiq grew up in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Oud Player Beau Bothwell said: What’s really interesting is that it’s a neighborhood between two colleges and the band that plays there all the time plays Middle Eastern music. ”
Imagine the Yards of West Maine Hill: Percussionists Dede Alder and Carolyn Corbell create rhythms from other lands dumbex Or other hand drums, string players put sweet yearning improvisations on top of it, and “all the kids[in the neighborhood]come out to dance,” says Bothwell.
“For them, it’s music,” says Koebel. “That’s a typical reaction.”
In 2019, the ensemble traveled to wooded Northern Mitten to play a set at Blissfest. While the Folk and Roots Festival is heavy on American roots, Bahar was pure roots from another part of the world.
“It was great. People loved it,” says Adler. “When they get to places they’ve never been before, they get really freaked out and people get really excited. Excited in a good way.”
Kurdistan to Kalamazoo
Tofiq came from Iraqi Kurdistan in late 2013 to pursue a master’s degree in music at Western Michigan University.
He was a student of both classical music and his hometown tradition.
“I grew up with it,” Tofiq says of his traditional music. His father, cousins, and his extended family didn’t have the “technology we have” to hear what’s popular around the world.
“We were listening to our style. All the styles we had were about this music. We learned most of this music there.” I played the sound, shared it, and said bluntly, “Okay, I heard this song, and I’m going to share it.”
Arriving in Kalamazoo, he thought, “I know what I want to share with everyone.” So Tofiq and his Bashdar Sdiq, a fellow Iraqi musician and music student at his WMU, formed his Bahar.
Kalamazoo’s Bahar Ensemble, performing Middle Eastern music, performed at Kalamazoo’s 2022 New Year’s Fest.Sdiq returned to Iraq and other members came and went. In forming the group as it is today, Tofiq realized he wasn’t in a complete vacuum, even without musicians who knew Middle Eastern music.
Boswell says he chose the oud, a pear-shaped, unfretted stringed instrument, for a short time as an undergraduate, but got the chance to gain more experience with the instrument when he first attended Bahar. rice field. Oh yeah, he’s also an Assistant Professor of Music at his College of Kalamazoo, and an expert in ethnomusicology, whose research is deeply related to Middle Eastern music and culture.
Alder An eclectic multi-genre singer and percussionist, he became devoted to Arabic drums later in his career.Bahar’s newest member köbel Over the last 20 years, Kalamazoo has performed various world music percussion forms.
Koebel said: Because we don’t have people with the expertise, cultural integrity and knowledge. ”
There may have been groups who could “hint of it,” she continues. “There’s really only one of us who’s functioning at a high level at that. The rest of us are students.” ”
Rouh equals hope, spirit
Euker, a cellist and member of the Fifth Bahar, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.
Her involvement began when she and Tofiq wanted to provide a musical outlet for immigrant/refugee children. Kalamazoo Suzuki Academy.
Orchestra Rouh recently performed at the First Congregational Church in downtown Kalamazoo.early 2017, Kalamazoo welcomed refugeesin the face of then-President Trump’s executive order targeting refugees and sanctuary cities, mainly from Syria.
“[Rouh’s]idea came about when a refugee Syrian family moved to Kalamazoo,” says Tofiq.
“My wife (Hend Ezzat Hegab, WMU Arabic instructor) and I translated with them, took them to doctors and grocery stores….I saw many children. However, they were playing outside and could not participate in school activities because they did not know the language.
“I choose music because it is the universal language,” he says. “When we play music, everyone understands us. We don’t have to speak the same language. Through music, we play music everywhere, like a bridge between our culture and theirs.” Please give me.”
Orchestra Rouh recently performed at the First Congregational Church in downtown Kalamazoo.They taught refugee children how to play, named their new orchestra Rouh (Arabic for hope or spirit), and held concerts for the children’s new homes.
“It was great to see the families that had just arrived. Their children were in our program,” says Alder. “Parents would come and the speakers would speak in Arabic and English.” Rouh said, “It was a bridge between the parents and the community. It was really powerful. Children felt involved and accepted. These The people of (Kalamazoo) seemed loving and kind.”
Euchre says the children felt lost in a new land, a different culture and a different language. “I was able to reverse that role a bit and be a presenter… Parents watching their child perform on stage were very proud of the familiar music.”
New start in 2023
Bahar and Rouh often performed together, and adult groups set an aspirational example for young musicians.
From 2017 to 2020, Bahar and Lowe Kalamazoo Museum of ArtKIA Art Fair, Connecting Codes Music FestivalWMU, and K College.
Then they had to go virtual, like we all had to: Rouh’s lessons continued online, while Bahar rehearsed and did some recording.
They say it’s a bit late to get back to where it was, but in 2023 there will be a Bahar concert in February at Millwood Magnet School and fretboard festival March.
Orchestra Lou, a training orchestra featuring Middle Eastern music, is sponsored by the Kalamazoo Symphony and Suzuki Academy.Just before speaking with Second Wave, members of Bahar Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition January 18th.
The musician, from preschool age, has done her best in the first performance for many. Some were of Middle Eastern heritage, some were not.
Solo or with the accompaniment of their violin instructor, Tofik, they tentatively played simple violin melodies to their proud families.
Then Adler, Rouh’s percussion instructor, brought up the doumbeks. The two young musicians were clearly excited to hit the Arab rhythms.
Orchestra Rouh recently performed at the First Congregational Church in downtown Kalamazoo.Orchestra Rouh has had to focus on a recital format rather than performing concerts as a group, but the program continues to grow. Since 2017, youngsters who were former members of Rouh have moved on, Youker said.
“Orchestra Row has evolved into a place of cultural exchange in the same way Bahar brings familiar music to Middle Eastern communities and showcases the people of Kalamazoo,” says Euchre.
“What began as a segregated and culturally specific space where recently arrived students could feel safe, supported and understood has evolved with the needs of students and immigrant/refugee children. It has become a place that brings together both Americans and fellow Americans.”
Upcoming Bahar Ensemble Show
Friday, March 3, 6:00pm and 8:00pm performances, 7:00pm lecture: fretboard festivalKalamazoo Valley Museum, two performances and lectures on the history of the oud in Middle Eastern culture.
Sunday, April 16th at 4pm: Battle Creek’s First Congregational Church145 Capitol Avenue NE, Battle Creek.
New show announced at Bahar Ensemble facebook page.
