Sunday Morning Drifts

 

January 8: It is a good cloudy almost cold January day.  It is the perfect sort of day to read a novel but more likely to watch some football of the NFL variety.  I am comfortably dressed for either option with a cup of coffee within reach.  It is also a perfect day to write a meandering museful post like this one.

That is not what I will be doing.

Today is the first concert of the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble of the 2022-23 season.  This first concert, the Turkish Concert, is usually around Thanksgiving.  This year it was scheduled for January 8 because of scheduling conflicts in the Performance Hall of the Logan Center for the Performing Arts.  So, I will soon have to end this moment of tranquility and get ready to depart.

Other thoughts drifted into my mind.  Should I be playing in a Turkish Concert while Artsakh is under siege?  I have debated that.  I debated that back in October when practices began for this concert.  At that time, there were serious border incursions by the Azeris.  It looked like war was imminent.  Things settled down which I attributed to Pelosi’s visit to Armenia.  In retrospect, the Azeris were planning their next move. 

The issue is do we go about our normal business while our brothers and sisters in Artsakh are in peril.  But we are, I am, halfway around the world and essentially unable to do anything more than write emails and phone our representatives and senators beseeching the Armenian case.  We still lead our social lives and our community activities.  There were dances this past weekend.  Communities are planning their Poon Pari Gentan (Mardi Gras) celebrations as I write.  We will be playing at such a party at our church.  Life moves on, while our people in Artsakh are being strangled by this blockade.  This is a sad reality.

The dichotomy is how to be supportive politically active and still live a normal life both as individuals and communities.  Can we just get up and go there?  Sure, we could.  But to do what?  Other than behind the scenes diplomatic efforts which involve beseeching other countries to pressure Azerbaijan, there seem to be nothing else volunteers would be able to do there.  There is a real feeling of impotency permeating the Armenians, I imagine everywhere, that is sad to see and who knows what the long-term consequences of this will be. 

We do have two art songs, şarkıler, by Armenian composers:  Gamzedeyim Deva Bulman by Kemani Tatyos Ekserciyan (1858-1913) and Kimseye etmem şikayet by Kemani Sarkis Sucuyan (1865-1944).  We always have music by a few Armenian composers.  It speaks to our substantial role in the musical heritage of classical Turkish music.  The two songs we performed are true classics of the genre.  While Kemani Sarkis is really known for this one beautiful şarkı, Kemani Tatyos is one of the great composers and each of his compositions is a classic.  It feels good to play these two songs especially.

Beyond that music, for me, is a great release.  It is therapeutic and I value the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble which these days seems to be my primary gig.  So, I will play. 

No one else in the Ensemble seems to know or care unless because the Artsakh blockade is, truly, only covered in the Armenian Press.  Unless I make a big deal of it, no one else in the ensemble would know.  I guess I am making some kind of deal of it here.

January 15:  Fast forward a week.  It is another Sunday.  I am drifting still on this topic.

I am glad to have the Turkish Concert behind me for the reasons written above.  At times like these, it is harder to separate politics and culture.  All in all, I was glad to have participated.  I enjoyed the music.  It was a brief respite from the horrible political reality facing the Republics of Armenia and Arsakh.  Here is a link to a video of The Middle Eastern Ensemble of the University of Chicago performing Tatyos’s GamzedeyimDeva Bulman.

We started practicing for the Persian Concerts this past Thursday.  Given all protests for change happening there, it would not surprise me at all if we were to play selections in support of the protests.  I wish we would include an Armenian song in support of the isolated people of Artsakh.  I will advocate for such.