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Concert Preview, Interview
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The Atlanta Jewish Times, Concert Preview, Interview >>
British Christians, Turkish Muslims bridge sacred gaps
By Suzi Brozman
Fans of the King’s Singers, England’s most famous a capella singing group, will hardly expect them to be accompanied by instruments, much less Turkish Islamic instrumentalists and a pair of whirling Dervishes.
Robert McKay, the managing director of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University, which is presenting the concert, explains his excitement at this unusual coupling of musical forms and content. “The idea of this collaborative project, ‘Sacred Bridges,’ fired on all cylinders for us, musically, intellectually and culturally. Emory’s music department has strong choral and early music programs. ‘Sacred Bridges’ brings these genres together in a way that celebrates the diversity and similarities of three of the world’s major faiths.
“Emory scholars often illuminate connections among religions and cultures through publications and lectures. … This was a way to approach these topics through music.”
The King’s Singers, founded in the 1960s at Britain’s Cambridge University, are perhaps best known for their tight harmonic arrangements of old English madrigals, folk songs, and Gilbert and Sullivan. But more recent additions to their repertoire have include pop music, even Beatles tunes, and now “Sacred Bridges,” a program conceived with the Turkish Islamic band Sarband, whose musicians seek to explore connections among the musical cultures of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
Sarband’s name comes from Persian and Arabic and refers to an improvised coupling of two parts within a musical piece. The group’s performance with the King’s Singers includes improvisations, during which cloaked Arabic dancers whirl in a mesmerizing performance that enhances the free form of the music.
Sarband and the King’s Singers began working toward a joint project two years ago. Sarband’s founder, Muslim Vladimir Ivanoff, has a partner who is a Hebrew linguist. Together they developed the concept of a multicultural musical program that would be a statement of unity in today’s troubled times.
They discovered that the psalms of David were common to all three major monotheistic religions. Sharing a manager with the King’s Singers made the connection a natural one.
Said Chris Gabbitas, a member of the King’s Singers: “The collaboration is a musical statement showing how different faiths and cultures in many countries still manage to use the same poetry for inspiration to fulfill their spirituality. We’re trying to get people to come listen, to see that everyone is striving for happiness and spirituality, and to convince people to concentrate on similarities instead of differences.
“It’s also that a group of Islamic musicians and a group of Christian musicians can work together rather than against each other to produce something greater than anything either could produce on our own. We’re not political and aren’t out there to make political statements. This is a gentle reminder that if you look at others, and put a little time and effort into building relationships, it’s extraordinary what you can achieve. We’ve been amazed at how hugely rewarding it’s been.”
On a lighter note, the King’s Singers are often queried about their use of the countertenor range. “Whenever we appear at a school, some wag will invariably ask if our countertenors are real men or if they’ve had an operation,” Gabbitas said. “We tell them that any man can sing in a falsetto range, but it usually only comes out at a football game or if you’re hurt. A countertenor is just a controlled form of that. We get the boys to stand up and sing in a falsetto voice. If you train it, you can come up with an extraordinary sound. In fact, all our members except me are married, and I’m about to be.” 10/12/05 >> go there
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