"Zoom in on Masters: IISMC Online Conversations" 2) "Masters of Syrian maqām"

Zoom in on Masters is a new project created by the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Musical Studies (IISMC) and focused on “masters” of important musical and dance traditions, who had been due to perform on the island of San Giorgio. In a virtual space, they converse on music topics of common interest and describe their own activities as well as some IISMC projects which, because of the international coronavirus health emergency, have inevitably been suspended but will resume as soon as possible. In this second conversation, Giovanni De Zorzi (University of Venice Ca’ Foscari) talks to Sabine Châtel, a music promoter particularly active in Syrian music circles, Adel Shams El Din (riqq player), Khadija El Afrit (qānūn player), and historian Massimiliano Trentin (University of Bologna). The musicians, including the famous singer Omar Sarmini, had been scheduled to give a concert of classical Aleppo singing, an unusual, refined style that will be described in the conversation. They discuss the importance of the Syrian musical tradition in the Arab and Middle Eastern world and beyond. They also give their views on the special existential and professional condition of a generation of musicians who have had to live with the civil war and now with the pandemic, many of them far from their home country, and how music making continues even in these difficult conditions by adapting to circumstances. Special guest is Omar Sarmini, who sent his voice to join this online conversation via mobile phone recordings. Music performance: 1. Short improvisation (taqāsim) on qānūn (00:00) 2. Samā‘ī Bayatī qadīm on qānūn and riqq (19:08) 3. Short improvisation on riqq (41:04) 4. Short improvisation in maqām Rast on voice and qānūn (43:29) Online conversation published on 18 June 2020 Conversation moderated by Giovanni De Zorzi (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) Project coordinated by Simone Tarsitani (Durham University) In order of appearance: Khadija El Afrit Giovanni Giuriati Omar Sarmini (mobile phone recordings) Giovanni De Zorzi Sabine Châtel Adel Shams El Din Massimiliano Trentin