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Young Minds and Music Converge in Egypt By PATRICK KABANDA
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| Cairo's All Saints' Cathedral was the site of the joint concert by SYLFF conference participants from music schools. |
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I first heard about Egypt in geography classes in my native Uganda, where Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River, is located. But I had never dreamed of going to Cairo, where this majestic river that has inspired so many forms of creativity flows into the Mediterranean. Thus I was overjoyed when Anthony Newman, Juilliard's vice president for development and public affairs, told me I had been nominated to represent The Juilliard School in the Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund's regional forum, held in Cairo on June 22 to 26. The SYLFF program was founded in 1987 by the Nippon Foundation, Japan's largest private foundation, which awards funding to select institutions of higher learning that, in turn, supports graduate fellowships in various academic fields. The program aims to cultivate future leaders who will actively participate in global peace and the well-being of all humankind.The Africa/Europe forum in Cairo that I attended—one of three regional conferences that provide opportunities for collaboration and networking among SYLFF institutions—brought together 53 young minds from various countries and disciplines to explore the theme of "Multiculturalism: Capitalizing the Wealth of Diversity." The meetings were held at the American University in Cairo (A.U.C.). I attended two discussions that did not concern music, but somehow I found a connection to my field.The session called Migration, Ethnic, and Cross-Cultural Encounters threw light on the infusion of talent in different cultures as they meet. Because music is one of the unique features of each culture, creative growth is greatly enhanced when different musical traditions are blended through intercultural exchanges.During the session on Financial and Economic Integration, I discovered that giving only monetary aid to poor countries was something analogous to spoon-feeding artistic ideas to a music student. The student, of course, has difficulty growing because of not being shown how to advance without a teacher's guidance—and thus it is also with struggling countries.I was privileged to be one of the discussion leaders on the topic of Language and Communication—The Role of Music as Communication. My colleague, flutist Alexandra Grot-Mkrtumyan, was the other participant, and Dr. Jared Critchfield was the moderator. The attendees included Ellen Mashiko and Rieko Harue of the Tokyo Foundation, Tommaso Mancini of the University of Geneva, and Jasmine Moussa, one of the forum coordinators. We discussed the role of music as an international language and a powerful motivator, especially for the disadvantaged. Far from merely providing entertainment, music is essential for human survival.Other ideas that were discussed included what can be done to uphold dying forms of classical music; how to present live performances to audiences in remote areas; how to promote new music, improvisation, and composition; and how to infuse various musical cultures into different societies. The advantages and disadvantages of music technology, especially in CD recordings, were also explored.When asked how music is used for communication in Africa, I gave an example of a drum pattern that is played to waken people in the morning. (Tommaso Mancini provoked much laughter when he asked who wakes the drummer if he oversleeps.)This forum brought students from music schools in the SYLFF program together in performance for the first time. Russian pianist Ekaterina Doubkova and two Hungarian brothers, violinist Sandor Javorkai and cellist Adam Javorkai, represented the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Russian flutist Alexandra Grot-Mkrtumyan represented the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and I, of course, represented Juilliard.Dr. Ashraf Fouad—a Juilliard alumnus, composer, and head of the music department at A.U.C.—helped to put the program together for our joint concert on June 25 in Cairo's All Saints' Cathedral, which serves as a "mother church" to the vast Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. The cathedral also runs a refugee program and other ministry service programs for the needy. Because the SYLFF program is committed to humanitarianism, refugees and other disadvantaged people were invited to sell their goods on the cathedral terrace before and after the concert. Various products for sale included bags, candleholders, and necklaces.
I was asked to begin and end the concert with selections on the cathedral's organ (repaired the day before by a piano tuner, as organ technicians are rare in Egypt), and was bombarded with questions by audience members who came upstairs to see the instrument during intermission. Our musical offerings energized the audience, although the demanding pedal work in Reubke's Adagio and Fugue in C minor, coupled with Cairo's warm weather, left me soaked with perspiration.Before leaving Cairo, I took a tour of the Pyramids and was captivated and inspired by those massive structures. If the ancient Egyptians could take delight in such extraordinary endeavors, then our generation should be able to take on the challenge of creating a world of harmony and prosperity. Let us utilize our talents to eradicate poverty, diseases, hunger, political instabilities, and other factors that hinder humanity from flourishing. Just as the Nile River has provided for Egyptians, let us become a great river contributing to the advancement of the world's disadvantaged peoples. Organ student Patrick Kabanda will earn his master's degree in December.
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