New York – Political and religious leaders are finding help for their peacemaking efforts from an unlikely source: contemporary musicians. An inter-religious orchestra of Jewish, Muslim and Catholic musicians was recently formed in Argentina, the first of its kind in the country. It materialised as the result of the joint efforts of a Catholic priest, Fernando Giannetti, Rabbi Sergio Bergman and the president of the Argentine Islamic Center, Sumir Noufouri. Their main idea is to work together while respecting the diversity of their opinions.
The conductor of the inter-religious Argentine orchestra is Luis Gorelik, an Argentine musician with a distinguished international career. Through their work, both director and musicians want to show that collaboration can work among people of different religious persuasions. The orchestra is called Armonías (Harmonies), and is made up of 34 musicians from several Argentine provinces. In the future, Gorelik intends to incorporate musicians from other Latin American countries.
The Armonías orchestra follows the path of two other musicians working for peace in the Middle East: Daniel Barenboim and Miguel Angel Estrella. Together with the late Palestinian scholar Edward Said, Barenboim created the West-Eastern Divan (named after an anthology of poems by Goethe), an orchestra made up of young Israeli and Palestinian musicians. The orchestra has performed throughout the world and Barenboim has given piano recitals and music classes in Palestine.
Miguel Angel Estrella, an Argentine pianist and present Argentine Ambassador to Unesco, is the founder of Musique Esperance, a group that promotes peace and justice through music. Estrella has formed Orchestra for Peace, made of young Israeli and Arab musicians from Israel, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. He states, If we are able to create a new humanism, we will be more credible to our children and the youth of today.
I asked Estrella, a friend since my youth, what prompted him to create such an orchestra. He told me that it followed a visit to a refugee camp in Gaza where, he said, I saw the saddest things in my life. He also visited a village where Druze, Muslims and Christians lived together in perfect harmony. He asked a villager how this was possible, and the villager told him, Of course it is possible; after all, we are all children of Abraham.
When he came back to Paris, where he lives, Estrella had already formed the idea to create an orchestra with people from different religious backgrounds. However, when he mentioned his idea to Jewish Rabbis, Catholics or Muslims they all tried to discourage him, telling him that it was an impossible dream. France s president at the time, Francois Mitterrand, went as far as telling Estrella that he thought that his life could be in danger if he pursued this idea.
The more they told me that it wasn t possible to do it, Estrella told me, the more determined I became to do it. Finally, he was able to create the orchestra with the help of people from different backgrounds and beliefs. Now we play whenever we are able to gather money to pay for the expenses since it costs us a lot to bring together people from different countries, said Estrella, but I do my best to help them, since they are very eager to play together.
Can a musical group be a model for cooperation among people of different religions?
I believe it can. While politicians actions often seem to increase the divide among different religious groups, the work of these musicians is contributing to close that gap. Their work effectively joins peoples longing for peace with the audiences love of music.
Perhaps through civilian efforts, particularly music, we can reach a level of understanding and cooperation that can eventually lead to a less violent world. By multiplying peace-promoting orchestras, by galvanizing into action people s thirst for peace, common citizens can show the merchants of war that music and cooperation can triumph over destruction and death.
César Chelala, a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award, writes extensively on foreign affairs and human rights issues. He is the foreign correspondent for Middle East Times International (Australia.) This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org..
