Four years ago, conductor Tamara Brooks and Yiddish folk singer Shura Lipovsky traveled to Mostar, a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina that was destroyed by the Bosnian War, to work with the musicians of the Mostar Sinfonietta. This was the first step on the road to developing the Bridge to Peace program into the educational, musical and cultural program that it has become today: a unique performing arts residency that comes to Georgetown this week, to share its messages of understanding and cooperation.
The city’s famous Old Bridge is still a heap of rubble, mirroring the tension that still fills the city. But the Mostar Sinfonietta, an ensemble of only a core of 13 musicians that was formed just after the war, has grown into an internationally recognized group providing music education and concerts for the entire region with the hope that the therapeutic powers of music will help those who are still traumatized by the conflicts the city has seen.
“It’s a profound involvement,” Brooks said. “Even when the residue of war is still very present, you want to make peace, and even when you can’t talk, you can sing.” Brooks and Lipovsky were enticed by the inter-ethnicity of the group: “The project was connected with Musicians without Borders, which tries to create bridges between people who don’t otherwise talk to each other,” Brooks said.
During their musical tour through Europe, the two came into contact with accordionist Merima Kljuco and renowned actor Theodore Bikel. The four artists came from vastly different backgrounds, with experiences ranging from classical music to folk tradition to Broadway theater. Yet they saw the same theme in each other’s work: the hope that music could bridge the gap between disputing cultures and bring people into a united community of artists.
“What is interesting is that individually in each of our lives, we’ve all done work for peace,” Brooks said. She described their meeting as truly serendipitous, inspiring the name of the group, Serendipity 4. In the summer of 2005, Brooks directed a concert tour of Poland featuring Bikel, Lipovsky, Kljuco and the Mostar Sinfonietta entitled “Bridge to Peace.” The program of Bosnian, Sephardic and Yiddish music was performed in Warsaw, Lublin and at the Krakow Jewish Music Festival. When Deborah Tannen, good friend to the group and professor in the linguistics department here at Georgetown, shared their music and their message with the Office of Campus Ministry and Program in Performing Arts, Serendipity 4 was invited to bring their Bridge to Peace program to D.C. The Bridge to Peace Residency is a series of events based on the original goals of the first concert tours but adapted to the Georgetown community.
The program begins with “The Artist as Activist,” a musical performance and discussion about the mission of the residency; the following day is the “Keynote Bridge to Peace Concert,” an inter-ethnic concert weaving together music and narrative texts from different cultures and faiths; the residency comes to a close with “Lives in the Theater: An Evening of Drama and Music,” an interactive theatrical event and discussion. The idea of education through music and the arts is a common thread through all of the events. Along with constant audience interaction, Serendipity 4 joins forces with members of the Georgetown University Concert Choir for the capstone event of the residency, the “Keynote Bridge to Peace Concert.”
To work under the direction of Brooks, a Grammy-nominated conductor, and to sing alongside Bikel, the actor who created the role of Captain Von Trapp in the Broadway production of “The Sound of Music,” is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But even beyond working with such prominent figures in the musical world, the students have found that to participate in a program with such cultural resonance is rewarding in and of itself. “It’s interfaith understanding,” Katrina Quirolgico (SFS ’08), one of the students chosen to participate, said. “Through music, we can understand other cultures, we can see through their eyes.” She explained how she was impressed by Brooks’ conducting style — whereas a chorus is generally meant to be a smooth blend of voices, Brooks encouraged the students to sing with their personality.
“She was really interested in teaching us technique,” Quirolgico said, remembering the advice Brooks gave her for auditions. Brooks was equally enthusiastic about her experience working with the students. “Paul Heins [director of Concert Choir] was very generous to give his choir to me,” she said. As the program features a strong emphasis on the Jewish cultural identity, the Georgetown community’s celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary opportunely coincides with the event.
“I think that a lot of people, when they initially just think of Judaism, they think only of the religion,” Rachel Nyitray (SFS ’11) said. “They don’t understand that a large part of being Jewish is being raised in a very distinct culture, and that is a culture that is very rich in art and music and food and stories. And I think it’s one of the most accessible parts of Judaism.”
By combining the music of Jewish traditions with more modern celebrations of the culture, such as pieces from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” as well as with anecdotes and texts, the Bridge to Peace Residency serves to represent the artistic richness of Judaism and how it correlates with other cultures.
“A big part about being Jewish is about being part of a cultural community,” Nyitray said, “and this type of cultural outreach program, I think, gets to a heart of Judaism that a lot of people don’t really hear about and learn about.” In addition to the more internal project of connecting people and musicians from different backgrounds and faiths, those who run the Bridge to Peace Residency said they hope to reach an even broader community — those who may have never realized the unifying power of music.
“What we wanted to do was have people play each other’s music, so that when you leave the situation, you have in your blood the music of the people who had been defined as your enemy,” Brooks said. “And of course, what you discover is that the themes of this music and the texts that go with this music are exactly the same.” She recounted a time in which she played a Jewish piece for a Muslim audience; when the piece was over, a member of the audience said, “That’s my story, too.” From its socially engaging elements to its strong interfaith dialogue, the story of the Bridge to Peace Residency is one of hope and understanding. Every culture has its songs of hope, songs of peace and songs of grief — but it’s peace that truly lies in the universal language of music.
The Bridge to Peace Residency, presented by the Festival of Interfaith Arts in cooperation with the Office of Campus Ministry, begins with “The Artist as Activist” on Saturday, April 13 at 5 p.m. in the Davis Center for Performing Arts. The “Keynote Bridge to Peace Concert” is on Sunday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Gaston Hall. The final event, “Lives in Theater: An Evening of Drama and Music,” is on Monday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Gonda Theater at the Davis Center for Performing Arts. To reserve free tickets, call 202-687-ARTS.