September 2010/March 2011

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1 N E W S L E T T E R

2 The Newsletter September 2010/March 2011 Al Kamandjâti Association began its activities for the year 2010/2011 with the theme Visit Palestine. With this theme, we wanted to highlight the many beautiful sides of our country which often go unnoticed: its landscapes, architectural heritage, nature, culture, history, and so much more. For more photos about Palestine: Photos by Majdi Hadid / Music composed by Ramzi Aburedwan

3 1/ The Concerts Al Kamandjâti Association organizes regular concerts throughout the year in all the locations where it works, including Ramallah, Jenin, the refugee camps of Al Amari, Qalandia and Jalazon, Tulkarem, the village of Deir Ghassana, as well as in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon (Bourj al Barajneh and Shatila) A- The monthly student concerts: These concerts take place once a month in AK Ramallah, as well as in Jenin, with the attendance of the teachers, the students families, the other music students, as well as the entire community.

4 B- The monthly Teachers and Guests Concerts A monthly chamber music concert take place in the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah, and a monthly Middle Eastern music concert takes in the Danish House in Palestine. A monthly Middle Eastern music concert also takes place in AK center in Jenin, to include compositions by musicians like Reyad Alsunbati and Farid Alatrash, along with traditional repertoires such as the muashahat.

5 2/ Music Trainings and Workshops A- Al Kamandjâti Association provided a training session in August 2010 to a number of classroom teachers of the UNRWA schools (in the refugee camps), a project which is co-financed by the European Commission and Terre des Hommes Italy. This training provides teachers a basic understanding in the fundamentals of music. Since January 2011, classroom teachers have been attending the music lessons provided in their classes by AK teachers, in order to gain a deeper understanding of both the music and their students. B- The Association has also invited 3 guest musicians from abroad M. Alessandro Trebeschi, M. Michel Benhaiem and M. Geoffroy Duce who provided piano master classes for AK s students, in order to enhance their capabilities and develop their musical culture. After the workshops, the guests performed a concert for the students.

6 3/ The Ramallah Orchestra After 5 years of continuing efforts to raise the students level and musical skills, the Association started to develop a local orchestra, in order to give the students the opportunity to apply all they have learned by practicing to the accompaniment of teachers and professional musicians. AK s intention is to create a permanent scene for the development of new talent, to provide the participants experience and expertise in playing symphonic repertoire with an orchestra, and to give them the opportunity to work together on some of the most challenging repertoire: Beethoven s 9 symphonies. With 2 symphonies performed annually, the orchestra will have mastered all nine Beethoven symphonies over a period of 5 years, ending with the Ninth Symphony in The orchestra has performed in Jerusalem at Al Hakawati Theater on 10/12/2010 and at the Ramallah Cultural Palace on 11/12/2010.

7 4/ The Refugee Camps Orchestra The Camps Orchestra, an initiative of AK s teachers, gathers students from the refugee camps of Al Amari, Jalazon, Qalandiah and the village of Deir Ghassana, who practice regularly together and perform twice a year. During the month of December, following an Orchestra workshop session, the Camps Orchestra performed 2 concerts at the Qalandiah and Jalazon camps. Playing together, and performing in front of their own community, is a Playing together, and performing in front of their own community, is a tremendous experience for these children.

8 5/ The Baroque Music Festival Now in its 6 th year running, the Baroque Music Festival is an annual production of Al Kamandjâti Association, taking place December 12 th 22 nd. The festival was founded by Ramzi Aburedwan and its artistic director is Peter Sulski. The festival gathers musicians from abroad and from Palestine, along with a number of students, to perform approximately 15 concerts in various locations in Palestine including Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jenin, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jericho, Birzeit, Jefna, Zababde, Deir Ghassana, Al Amari and Jalazon refugee camps, and for the past 3 years, Gaza as well.

9 6/ The National Ensemble of Arabic Music Created in 2010 by Ramzi Aburedwan, its musical director, the Ensemble aims to breath new life into Arabic musical heritage. The ensemble interprets classical Arabic music: samaiat, longat, muashahat, as well as works by Farid el Atrash, Mohamad Abdel Wahab, Riyad Sunbati, Mohamed el Kasabgy, Umm Kulthum, Ismahan, Layla Morad, Sabah Fakhri as well as original compositions written for the ensemble. The NEAMP (25-30 members) is comprised of the best musical talent from all of Palestine Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin, Haifa, Nazareth. Tulkarem, and Nablus. The Ensemble performed 2 concerts of an exceptional quality in February in Ramallah and Jerusalem. The concerts were a great success.

10 7/ Frederic Chopin Competition Rasha Doulani, an Al Kamandjâti piano student from Jenin, won first place in the Chopin Competition organized in Bethlehem by the Frederic Chopin Palestinian Society in collaboration with the Polish Representative Office in Ramallah. In appreciation of her talent and efforts, the Polish Representative Office in Ramallah has decided to contribute funds to Rasha s musical education, and has also offered her the opportunity to participate in a music workshop in Poland in the summer of 2011.

11 8/ Music Teaching in UNRWA Schools Al Kamandjâti Association has started music instruction in the UNRWA schools of Al Amari, Jalazon and Qalandiah refugee camps, a project that is co-financed by the European Commission and Terre des Hommes Italy, The aim of this project is to provide a generalized base of music education to the children of these schools, and in parallel, to train UNRWA school teachers in basic music sklls so that within 3 years they will be able to teach music fundamentals to the children themselves. The same project is also implemented in Shuafat, in direct collaboration with UNRWA.

12 9/ The Association in Gaza Al Kamandjâti Association is doing its best to contribute to the development of musical life in Gaza: -Al Kamandjati invited the guitar player and former AK teacher Mr. Matthew Rohde to Palestine in July to work with the Gaza Music School. in collaboration with A.M. Qattan Foundation, videoconferences were organized over the course of 3 days with the music school in Gaza, so that Matthew could give live guitar lessons to the students there, as well as work with the guitar teacher in Gaza. - Thanks to the assistance of Terre des Hommes Italy, Al Kamandjâti was able to send its violin teacher, Benjamin Payen,, to the Gaza Music School in the month of July Paven spent several days there assisting the school, giving violin lessons, and performing concerts. -Benjamin returned to Gaza in October 2010, accompanied by Dimitri Mikelis, Al Kamandjati s oud and piano teacher, to give lessons and perform additional concerts.

13 10/ The Association in Lebanon Al Kamandjâti is providing music instruction on a regular basis since 2008, to around 160 children in Lebanon: 1/Instrument lessons (the violin, the piano, the oud, the nay and the oriental percussions) to 50 children in the refugee camps of Chatila and Bourj el Barajneh 2/ Music appreciation lessons to: - 80 kids (from 4 to 8) in Dibbiyeh, in collaboration with ULYP - 50 kids from Al Naame - 30 kids from the refugee camps of Chatila and Bourj el Barajneh

14 11/ Our Students Abroad For the second year now, 3 of Al Kamandjâti s students are pursuing their music studies at the Conservatoire d Angers (Montaser Jibrini on clarinet, Amir Malhis on guitar and Mohamad Karzon percussion). And for the second year also, Shehade Shalalda, another AK student, is pursuing his studies at Newark College. Shalada is learning how to make and repair string-instruments, so that he can come back to Palestine to work as a luthier And finally, Laith Abou Jaoude is presently in Egypt studying Arabic music and specializing in Oriental singing.

15 12/ Thank You To The A.M. Qattan Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the General Consulate of France in Jerusalem, the Consulate General of the United States in Jerusalem, the Goethe-Institut in Ramallah, SIDA-HSM, the European Commission, Terre des Hommes Italy, Junta de Andalucia, AECID (Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Ramallah Municipality, the Conseil General du Maine et Loire, Cuthbert Horn Trust, the ULYP, Ms.Wendy Cook, Ms. Miriam Stock, the Welfare Association, as well as all the other institutions, organizations and individuals who support our work. A special thank to all our students, wherever they are, as well as their parents. For a short presentation about Al Kamandjâti Association: In order to contact us: info@alkamandjati.org /