Bonded Together in Friendship
A collaboration between Cultures in Harmony and
5 to 21 August 2009, Pakistan
Report prepared by William Harvey
Executive Director, Cultures in Harmony
22 August 2009
Précis
Cultures in Harmony brought American violinists William Harvey and Emily Holden, violist Christopher Jenkins, and cellist Ethan Philbrick to Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi for outreach performances in schools run by The Citizens Foundation (TCF), performances of Pakistani music with Pakistani musicians, informal private concerts and cultural exchange events, meetings with public figures, and media engagements.
Documentary
Dawn News, Pakistan's leading national TV channel, made a fabulous documentary about our work in Pakistan and uploaded it to YouTube. Please enjoy parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5!
Itinerary
Links to institutions take you to their site. Other links go to pictures of the CiH event.
August 5 Arrive Islamabad
August 6 Rehearsal with local musicians
Concert, Pakistan National Council of the Arts
August 7 Rehearsal with local musicians
Concert, The Rock Musicarium
August 8 Rehearsal with local musicians
Concert, Nysa Lounge
August 9 Rehearsal with local musicians
August 10 Lunch with TCF donors, Shangri La, Murree
August 11 Outreach concert, TCF School, Uthal
Dinner at a private home
August 12 Outreach concert, TCF School, Tarnol
Drive to Lahore
Rehearsal with local musicians
August 13 Outreach concert, TCF School, Wara Allah Dad Campus
Outreach concert, TCF School, Pheroo Campus
Visit to Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque
Dinner at Cooco's Den
August 14 Tea with Ahmed Rashid
Independence Day concert and party at a private home
August 15 Fly to Karachi
Lunch with TCF donors at Marriott Hotel
Rehearsals with local musicians
August 16 Rehearsals with local musicians
August 17 Outreach concert, TCF School, Cowasjee Campus
Interview on CityFM Radio (aired August 24)
August 18 Outreach concert, TCF School, Coastguard Adamjee Campus
August 19 Outreach concert, TCF School, SSD Campus
Interactive session with students
Concert and forum, National Academy of Performing Arts
August 20 Interviews and live performance at Dawn TV studios
Meeting with Ahson Rabbani, Vice President, TCF
Tea and dinner with Bhutto family
August 21 Fly back to United States
Notable Quotes
I have never heard [the Pakistan National Anthem] played so powerfully.
Fatima Bhutto, after private performance, 20 August
Don't just make a link. Build a relationship. You are feeding an entire nation.
Student, National Academy of Performing Arts, Karachi, 19 August
We thought Americans were not friendly people. We had never seen Americans or any people from outside, so we had no idea about the peoples of the outside world. Then, you come and you are so nice and friendly. We see that there is a very good chance that Americans and Pakistanis can be friends.
Student, TCF School, SSD Campus, Karachi, 19 August
After a while Ajmal Khan on tabla joined in with his classical beats on cello, violin and viola creating an interesting feel of east-west fusion. … Ethan on cello won many hearts with the sweet yet grave sound of cello gliding over the tabla. Ethan is an accomplished cello player was very enthusiastic and played beautifully for hours with various mode shifts and run time improvisation, which is commendable indeed. … Musicians played with a peculiar cultural touch and having a common factor in their music. William displayed extraordinary techniques on violin and gave a breathtaking performance. Emily and Chris gave amazing performances with the sweet sounds of violin and viola.
Saadia Khalid, The News, 9 August
The classical music fusion was dubbed Sarodh-Sitar-Tabla-Violin Jugalbandi concert and was an outstanding performance. The blending of the tunes was so mellifluous that it touched the souls of audiences who sat silently as if under the influence of magic. With William Harvey and Emily Holden on violins and Chris Jenkins and Ethan Philbrick on viola and cello, the quartet kept going into trance-like state — eventually slowing heart rates, forcing their listeners to close their eyes who couldn’t help but imagine themselves in a peaceful and heavenly oasis, like some in the audience made an effort to explain.
Jamal Shahid, Dawn, 8 August
Comments from Evaluations
At each outreach concert, we asked the principal for comments.
Thank you so much for coming in our institute. It was really a great fun and we encourage your spirit towards harmony for both countries. We welcome you to come again. This a very positive thinking and way because music is liked by every one and if there is a message of harmony in it, it becomes really fascinating and understanding and encouraging. I wish you all the best for your objectives.
The concert was great and such kind of programme should be arranged from time to time not only for the enjoyment of students but also for their understanding of music of different countries.
Students enjoyed the whole concert and actively participate with the group. Students were very excited during the whole concert. At the end students can recognise different instruments and even songs. I hope Cultures in Harmony group also enjoyed with students. This kind of activities should be arranged off and on to refresh the environment for the students and teachers also.
We are highly thankful to you for arranging such an impressive concert as well as excellent performance. It will bring ability to sharing and producing harmony and friendship among various cultures. We all of us appreciate your devotion and love for our students.
Blogs
From 5 to 21 August, I updated the blog from Pakistan. It offers a more personal and detailed overview of our activities. I encourage you to check it out; the entries are easiest to access (via "recent posts") if you click on the 21 August entry. Ethan also updated his blog with videos of the performers we met. Check out all his August 2009, beginning with the 24 August entry.
Pictures
Selected Press
Reviews of our August 6 concert at Pakistan National Council of the Arts: PK On Web, The News, Daily Times, Dawn
Review of our August 7 concert at The Rock Musicarium
Review of our August 8 concert at Nysa Lounge
Advance Itinerary for Lahore: Dawn and Gulf-Times
American Repertoire
David Baker Pastorale
Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings
Duke Ellington Mood Indigo and Take the A Train, arr. Paul Chihara
occasionally with the addition of Pakistani percussionists
Philip Glass Quartet No. 5
Terry Riley Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Catcher (tabla added)
Pakistani Repertoire
National songs National anthem (arr. William Harvey), Jeeway Pakistan, Dil Dil Pakistan
Provincial songs Mor Tor Tillay Rana, Pashto Song
Raga Yaman, Bageshri
Other song Lewa
Other Repertoire
Paquito d'Rivera Wapango
W. A. Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Acknowledgments
Thank you to the following U. S. Embassy personnel: Leslie Phillips, for her advice and for meeting with us; and Syed Azfer Iqbal, for his friendship, hard work, support, and for connecting us to Mr. Junaid Malik. Thank you to everyone at the Embassy who helped arrange the concert at PNCA.
Thank you to Junaid Malik for being such a great friend to all of us and for arranging the concerts at Nysa Lounge, the Paper Microphone, and the home of Zeb and Haniya in Lahore. Thank you to Zeejah Fazli for arranging the concert at the Rock Musicarium.
Thank you to the following staff at The Citizens Foundation: Romana Soorty, for her indefatigable, supremely competent work in organizing every aspect of our TCF itinerary; Tasleem Rasool, Lt Cdr (R), for his hospitality and organizational assistance in Islamabad; Maj. Ali Sher and Sanober Adeel for their help in Lahore; Imran Fancy for his companionship in Karachi; Bushra Afzal for her outstanding translation; and Nilofer Saeed for her hospitality at Murree and her warm maternal concern for us during our time in Karachi.
Thank you to the following outstanding South Asian classical musicians with whom we performed outreach concerts: Taimur Khan (sarangi) and Mohammed Ajmal (tabla) in Islamabad; Akmal Qadi (flute), Jaffer Hussein (clarinet), and Kashif Ali-Dani (tabla) in Lahore; and Leena Ahmed (tabla), Waqas Hussein (sitar), and Ashfaq Hussein (vocals) in Karachi. Thank you also to Arieb, Natasha, Aaisha, Zeb & Haniya, and the numerous other Pakistani pop and rock musicians with whom we collaborated at private concerts and informal jam sessions in Islamabad and Lahore.
Thank you to Umbreen Butt and her documentary film crew from Dawn for patiently following us for a week in Karachi in order to get the best possible documentary. Thank you to Asif Noorani for arranging so many high-profile media opportunities.
Thank you to Kashif Khan, a volunteer for TCF in New York. Without his steadfast advocacy since our initial meeting on October 28, 2006, this project would never have happened. Thank you to Danial Noorani and Amjad Noorani of TCFUSA for their encouragement and for helping ensure that TCF Pakistan gave this project serious consideration. Thank you to TCF Vice President Ahson Rabbani by authorizing the project, and thank you to Qazi Shaukat and Marina Fareed and to Junaid and Sadaf Zuberi for their connections. Thank you to the TCF drivers for patiently taking us so many places; to the staff whom we never met who still put in long hours on this project; to the teachers who took time out of their busy day for this; and to the students for listening to us and being the whole reason for this project. Thank you to the domestic staff at the houses where we stayed: Jameel in Karachi was particularly helpful.
Thank you to Ahmed Rashid for meeting with us in Lahore. Thank you to Fatima, Zulfikar, and Ghinwa Bhutto for their hospitality at tea and dinner in Karachi.
