A virtual concert titled “A Century of Music in Greater Lebanon” will be broadcast on September 25th to promote Lebanon’s musical heritage to the world.
The “Virtual Introduction to the Musical Heritage to Lebanon” is a collaborative project between Jeunesses Musicales du Liban (JML), Bayt al Musiqa, and the Delia Arts Foundation.
This concert is part of Ethno Lebanon, a program by Jeunesses Musicales International for folkloric and traditional music.
The nonprofit Jeunesses Musicales du Liban (JML) is part of the largest youth music NGO in the world: Jeunesses Musicales Internationales (JMI), which was created in 1945 in Brussels, Belgium to “enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries.”
The international organization does so through its four established activity fields: Young Musicians, Young Audiences, Youth Empowerment, and Youth Orchestras & Ensembles, and over 14 projects.
It has been promoting classical music and providing young talented musicians with opportunities to develop their musical careers.
Its global network covers about 40 countries with tens of thousands of different musical events annually.
The project “Virtual Introduction to the Musical Heritage to Lebanon” started with a 3-day online course, focusing on both theoretical and practical aspects of the musical heritage, and ending with the concert
Musicians aged 16-30 were taught to play folkloric melodies on their instruments, as well as sing them, in addition to the elements of the traditional dabke dance.
A sample of their work has already been released online: the Muwashash “I say and she whined”. It was broadcasted internationally as part of World Music Day on June 21st of this year.
The culmination of this project is 8 recordings in different maqams that will be launched on September 25th on various electronic platforms.
Right now, the project is in the process of editing and assembling the footage, which will showcase 40 musicians and introduce them to the world.
It is not only a concert, as the launch will include the recordings, as well as footage of training, an introduction to the project, and the songs played by international musicians.
Among the trainers for this project is Dr. Hayaf Yassine, a doctor of musicology, and head of the Arabic music department in the Faculty of Music and Musicology at Antonine University.
He is also the founder of Bayt al Musiqa, a music school for traditional Lebanese and Syrian folkloric music.
The Delia Arts Foundation is a foundation concerned with the support of music in conflict zones to help musicians grow and thrive professionally.
Their mission is to provide musicians of all kinds with their needs to grow while connecting different societies with each other to promote diversity and ethnic music.
This concert was made possible with the support of the British Council’s Masarat Grants scheme, which supports musicians on their way to professionalism.
Lebanon’s musical heritage is stronger than often assumed, with many prominent musicians around the world being Lebanese, and much of Lebanon’s music appreciated internationally.
Music can be a way for the youth of today to support themselves while expressing their emotions in a healthy way in a time where emotions are heavy and difficult to deal with.
