MEME: Talking with Lama and Taylan

Lama

     The Turkish concert of Middle Eastern Music Ensemble (MEME) of the University of Chicago is coming up this weekend: Saturday, November 23rd. As per usual, our Maestro Wanees Zarour has prepared and arranged wonderful selections. We have been practicing for seven weeks in preparation and are ready to go. The Turkish Concert, the first of the 2019 – 2020 season. In late winter, we have the Persian Concert and then the Arab Concert in the Spring. The orchestra is 40+ members strong we seem to get better with each performance. It is a real pleasure to be part of this ensemble of talented and warm-hearted people.
     For the fourth time I am writing about my fellow musicians. For this go around, I had a chance to sit and chat with one of talented violinists, Lama A. Kabir, and our versatile percussionist, Taylan Orhon.

How did you get into this music? Tell me your story. Was the music all around you when you grew up. Did you start off with middle eastern music or western music?

Taylan: When I was a kid in Turkey, I knew I was going to play the drums. I was exposed to some great bands playing at weddings and events. This was well before the digital keyboard era. I even knew if the band has a drummer or they use rhythm machine before I saw the band. When there was a real drummer, I would always going back behind the stage and watch the drummer with intense fascination. In fact, I still do this when I am at an event and there is a drummer playing on a stage.

Taylan and his mother, Tulay, at
a MEME Practice

When I was in high school, my brother and I wanted to play in a rock band. He was playing bass guitar and I was going to play the drums. The problem was I had no drum set. I bagged my mom to buy me a one. Back in Turkey in 80’s it was not easy to find a drum set. She could not say no; she knew that it was a crazy idea. However, she always supporting us especially when it came to music and eventually she let me buy the drum set. We had so many fun concerts in our town.

Even thought I started with Western music, we grew up with all kinds of Turkish music as a part of the culture. I learned more about the Turkish Classical music when my mom joined Classic Turkish Music Ensemble to play oud and sing in the choir. She was trying to teach me everything she learned but I was not paying too much attention at that time. But, I still took a usül (rhythm) lessons to learn how to play kudüm (drum) which is one of the fundamental Mevlevi music rhythm instruments.

Now it amazes me when I figure out all the different maqams and usüls. If you look at the technique, there are 9 microtones in between the notes which is called comma. This is what makes this music unique. The rhythm is also very important. There are wide variety of rhythms from 2/4 to 124/4 in Turkish music. If you listen to Ferahnak Pesrev by Tanburi Zeki Mehmet Aga, the rhythm is 120/4 “zencir usulü” which is combination of 5 different rhythms.

Lama: I’m a classically trained Arabic violinist and have been playing the violin for over twenty years. I grew up in a small town in Michigan where my love of all things classical began. As a kid, I felt like nothing could match the perfection of Vivaldi and Bach Violin Concertos. During those days, my parents always played traditional Arabic music at home and in the car, which I honestly was not too fond of. They would play the music of Fairuz and Um Kulthoum wherever we went, and I would try so hard to understand how they found beauty in a language so complex and tones that are so unfamiliar to the western ear.

Lama and part of the string section at a MEME Practice

Growing up, we often visited Syria and stayed with our relatives there for months at a time. We spent those days getting to know our extended family, exploring cities, and learning about our beautiful culture which ultimately had a profound impact on who I am today. While in Syria, I became increasingly captivated by Arabic culture and started taking Arabic violin, language, and music theory lessons as a result. It was then that I started understanding and appreciating the beauty and complexity of the Arabic language and maqamat which previously sounded so strange and unfamiliar to me! On our last trip to Syria, I was thrilled to attend live Sabah Fakhri and Ziad Rahbani Concerts, which further fueled my passion in Arabic music.

After returning to the US, I continued my passion in learning and performing Middle Eastern music everywhere I lived from Detroit, Michigan to San Francisco, California. Back in undergrad, I was an Arabic violinist in the Michigan Arab Orchestra, during dental school I played in the University of Chicago Middle East Music Ensemble, and in residency I had an incredible experience performing with the Aswat Ensemble in the San Francisco Bay Area. The director, Nabila Mango, had a very special influence on me. She inspired me to always have a deep sense of purpose behind every note that I play on my violin - to connect with my audience and build bridges to everyone’s hearts I perform for

Which of the three MEME concerts is your favorite (Turkish, Persian, or Arab)? How do you relate to the concerts that aren't part of your heritage?

Lama: Everyone who knows me can probably tell you, my personal favorite is the Arab concert because it reflects my heritage and it is such a precious opportunity to share my culture with the community. I also enjoy opening my mind and heart up to different cultures. Earlier this year my husband and I had the opportunity to visit the incredible city of Istanbul, Turkey and it made me fall in love with the beautiful Turkish culture, art, and music. Practicing for this upcoming Turkish Concert takes me back to my time there where I spent hours admiring the rich art and history of its people. I am excited to share it with the audience through music!

Taylan: I love them all. I can’t say one is more fun than another. Even they are all Middle Eastern music, they have all different nuances and unique style.  Obviously, I am much more familiar with the Turkish classical and folk music. MEME has allowed be to explore and learn more about each of these musical tranditions. When I play in Persian concert, I realized how deep and harmonic the Persian music is.

What is it like to be part of MEME?

Taylan: To me MEME is not just a music ensemble. It is a great social group in every way. Music is a most wonderful way to connect with people. I do not see the rehearsals as a practices. It is like social therapy. Imagine you are here with all the amazing people who want to make music. During the rehearsal, I absolutely disconnect from the world and focus on music.

Taylan having some fun with
the timpani... before practice

Certainly part of it because working with Wanees. He sets the tone both socially and musically. He is an incredible musician with a lot of music knowledge. He understands both Western and Eastern music and successfully stitches them together. It is not easy to bring the two different sides and expect them to play Saba maqam together. In Western classical music, it is what you see and what you play in the sheet music. When you perform Middle Eastern music, you kind of follow the sheet music but also play with ear simultaneously.

Lama: When I first joined MEME back in 2014, I remember being nervous about what to expect, but with each year that I have played with MEME I have found nothing but the warmest sense of belonging where everyone treats you like family! I learn so much about music and cultures, and always look forward to ensemble rehearsals every single week. It is the evening where I can forget all the stresses of life, connect with people from every walk of life, and continue to do what I love. Wanees has always been so passionate about MEME, from the countless hours of he spends writing musical arrangements, programs, patiently teaching us about music theory behind the pieces, putting up with the challenges of getting so many people together in one place to share a love of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian music -he has been an amazing and dedicated director from the start! 

Tell us a bit about your day job and other hobbies. 

Lama: You would probably never guess it but during the day, I am a dentist! I help bring beautiful smiles to people’s faces for a living and I love every bit of it. There are many similarities between the manual dexterity of a dentist’s intricate work and the meticulous technique and hand-eye coordination of playing the violin. Every day, I translate the manual dexterity skills that I have been developing on the violin for the last twenty years into a career that allows me to replace pain with bright smiles in the people that I meet- just like playing the violin does with my audience!

I love the arts whether it be oil painting, interior decorating, learning to play qanun and cello, taking salsa dance classes with my husband, getting lost in art museums, or attending concerts - I always try to do something creative and purposeful with my time!

Taylan: I am the lead store design manager at Ulta Beauty headquarters. I love this work which is another amazing way to express my creativity.

I do not see music as a hobby. It is part of my life and that is what we try to give our daughter. My other passion is photography. It is great feeling to see the world through my lens. It reflects how I see the world. I love taking street and portrait photography to reveal scenes that most people don’t see. 

     I greatly appreciate Lama and Taylan taking the time to speak with me. It was amazing to read how they both related to our practices as being a temporary respite from whatever else is going on in our lives. It is indeed a time to focus on music and the camaraderie of playing in this wonderful ensemble. As much as this is true for the practices, the concert is even a step beyond that simply by adding an audience, which adds more energy to the experience. Come to a concert and get a taste of what Taylan and Lama have graciously expressed about the MEME here.

Annals of Motivation... Again

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/148759593917028692/visual-search/

      I have been thinking of a quote recently that I have not thought about for several years. 

The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want for what we want at the moment.
~ Suprina Berenyi 

     I am not questioning why this notion came front of mind all of a sudden, but I wondered more why this quote took a vacation for so long. It is something is something I need think of everyday for motivation and to nurture a longer term and bigger goal perspective. The humorous part of this is that my struggle with moral of this quote has been lifelong. It was why I blog rather than write a book. Blogs are shorter and can be written in the moment whereas a book requires planning and a longer-term focus. I have never as been good at endeavors that require long term planning, focus, and effort. 
      Suprina, a wellness coach and nutritionist, is absolutely correct. Failure and unhappiness is indeed the result of trading off what I really want for what I want at the moment. Well, that is extreme, because I am not wallowing in unhappiness nor am I burdened by always feeling as a failure. I do have my moments, however. 
     Supposedly, according to a mythical story on the origin of our last name, our family motto is never to leave today’s work for tomorrow. This is definitely not a motto that I live to though I should. Part of long term projects and planning is to set a schedule and do some of the work according to that schedule 
     There are two other quotes that go along with Suprina’s. Together they truly provide a set of tenets, a collective motto, by which I should live my work life. The other two quotes are: 

Knowing never equals doing. - Mariah Smith

Start sewing and God will supply the thread. ~ German Proverb 

     I tend to know what to do, how to do it, and, then, procrastinating like crazy. I have fought against this forever. The German Proverb is indeed the prescription for procrastination. The first step is simply just to start. Don’t procrastinate. Start the task. That simple act overcomes the biggest hurdle I, and many others apparently, have… just getting started. Even if you are not sure how to start or what to do, it doesn’t matter. Start. God will supply the thread. 
     When thought of together and put into action, it works. I know this. I really do. But, as Mariah Smith stated so eloquently “Knowing never equals doing.” 
     It is the doing, the executing, the flat-out getting things done that makes the difference. It is the bias for action, for working toward what we really want rather than what we want for the moment. If you do this enough, what you really want and what you want for the moment becomes the same thing. 
     I really make it sound so very simple.
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The Sword of Damocles

     I have heard this term all my life. Certainly, it comes from antiquity but I was never sure who Damocles was nor under what circumstances a sword came to be dangling over his head. My entire knowledge of this fellow and his sword was from The Three Stooges. 

     The reference to the sword of Damocles was in their 97th short film, Half-Wits Holiday, made in 1947 and was the prelude to the kind of epic pie fights the Stooge films were known for. The boys found themselves at a high society gathering and were trying to fit in. 

     The scene in the film involved Moe, Curly, and a society lady played by Symona Boniface. Boniface’s character was name Mrs. Smythe-Smythe. Curly takes an entire pie from the buffet and is about to bite into it without having cut it or without using utensils. Moe sees this, chastises him, and takes the pie. As he sees Mrs. Smythe-Smythe approaching, he is not sure what to do with the pie. So, he tosses it up and sticks to the ceiling. Mrs. Smythe-Smythe approaches Moe and is standing right under the pie which is about to come down. Moe encourages Mrs. Smythe-Smythe to leave when she utters the line, “Young man, what’s wrong, you act as if the sword of Damocles is hanging over your head.” The pie comes down right on her face and in wiping it off and throwing it laterally, it hit another guest and the pie fight is on. 

     I always wondered what the sword of Damocles was all about. So, I finally searched it. History.com had an excellent explanation: 

The famed “sword of Damocles” dates back to an ancient moral parable popularized by the Roman philosopher Cicero in his 45 B.C. book “Tusculan Disputations.” Cicero’s version of the tale centers on Dionysius II, a tyrannical king who once ruled over the Sicilian city of Syracuse during the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Though rich and powerful, Dionysius was supremely unhappy. His iron-fisted rule had made him many enemies, and he was tormented by fears of assassination—so much so that he slept in a bedchamber surrounded by a moat and only trusted his daughters to shave his beard with a razor.

As Cicero tells it, the king’s dissatisfaction came to a head one day after a court flatterer named Damocles showered him with compliments and remarked how blissful his life must be. “Since this life delights you,” an annoyed Dionysius replied, “do you wish to taste it yourself and make a trial of my good fortune?” When Damocles agreed, Dionysius seated him on a golden couch and ordered a host of servants wait on him. He was treated to succulent cuts of meat and lavished with scented perfumes and ointments. Damocles couldn’t believe his luck, but just as he was starting to enjoy the life of a king, he noticed that Dionysius had also hung a razor-sharp sword from the ceiling. It was positioned over Damocles’ head, suspended only by a single strand of horsehair. From then on, the courtier’s fear for his life made it impossible for him to savor the opulence of the feast or enjoy the servants. After casting several nervous glances at the blade dangling above him, he asked to be excused, saying he no longer wished to be so fortunate. 

      The history.com piece claims that the sword of Damocles is a general term for looming danger and attributes the related “hanging by a thread” to mean the same thing. While I do hear people say “hanging by a thread” somewhat often, I do not recall anyone using the Sword of Damocles phrase at all except, of course, when they are referring to The Three Stooges. 

     The Sword of Damocles is a symbol of perpetual and looming danger and doom. Yet, that is not the only moral in the myth or perhaps not the full breadth of the moral. There is the “watch out what you ask for” part. Damocles wanted the king’s life but only the good parts. He wanted no part of the negative aspects which the king made sure he experienced in full. Another interpretation may be to never envy a tyrant if you are not willing and able to deal with the hate and associated risks that come along with the seemingly pleasant and luxurious parts. I like these two interpretations more. 

     A sad twist to The Three Stooges short is that Half-Wits Holiday was the last film Jerome “Curly” Howard would star in. After the scene where Moe took the pie from Curly and tossed it up to the ceiling, Curly went off-stage and had a stroke that ended his career as a Stooge. He was replaced by his brother Samuel “Shemp” Howard. 

Here is the Sword of Damocles clip from Half-Wits Holiday:

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Morning Edition: Happy 40th

     One of my valued and long-standing sources of news is National Public Radio (NPR). The two primary broadcasts that I listen to are Morning Edition and All Things Considered on my morning and evening drives. This week marks the 40th Anniversary of Morning Edition which aired first on November 5, 1979. All Things Considered debuted eight years earlier on May 3, 1971.
     I am not sure when I first started listening to All Things Considered. It may have been in 1974 and 1975 during my misguided first year of graduate school at Michigan State University. I discovered that NPR was more than just classical music while studying in my disgusting hovel of a room in a house on Gunston St. I was impressed with the coverage of news and the presentation of feature stories on All Things Considered. I also really enjoyed another show, the name of which I cannot recall, which was very well done audio presentations of popular fiction.  I remember listening to James Michener’s Centennial with great interest. My listening to NPR was haphazard at best back then.
      I listened more regularly when I returned to Detroit and worked at Ford Motor Company and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan and then Wayne State University. I used to listen to Morning Edition from its inception on my morning commutes and All Things Considered on the way home or to school. No matter whatever else I tried to listen to during my commute from other radio stations to music, I would always gravitate back to these two NPR broadcasts. These two related news shows became part of my routine. I listened to Morning Edition much more and for the sole reason that the time of my morning commute was more predictable and most definitely in the time slot when that show was airing.
     In 1990, I moved to Connecticut and worked in Manhattan. My commuting shifted from car to train. My news source shifted from these two shows to The New York Times. I tried using a radio on the hour train ride, but the reception was not good. I would listen to Morning Edition on my 10 minute drive to the train station or when driving to New Jersey for occasional meetings. I rarely had the opportunity to listen to All Things Considered. On top of this, I was travelling internationally about 30-45% of the time. This period lasted until 2007. It was truly an era of Morning Edition and All Things Considered drought for me.
      The drought ended when I moved to Chicago and worked for Sanford Brands. I started listening to both shows again and it was like I hadn’t missed a beat. Bob Edwards and Cokie Roberts, who sadly passed earlier this year, were like old friends that I was glad to be reacquainted with. As was the case previously, I listened to Morning Edition more than All Things Considered, again, simply because the hour of my morning commute was more predictable.
      When the Great Recession hit and I joined the ranks of disenfranchised, my tuning in to those shows waned again until consulting and then teaching picked up and I was more out and about. On my homebound days, I never listened as I simply did not have a radio other than the ancient alarm clock/radio in the bedroom. When I joined North Park in 2014 and had much more and well defined commute times, I have been listening with greater frequency ever since.
      These days, I listen to many of the news shows on NPR such as Market Place and Fresh Air to name two. I have the modern-day equivalent to a radio, my smart phone, on which I have the WBEZ App and can tune in anytime to hear what’s being aired live and listen to broadcasts I might have missed. But, I am old school and only listen to what is aired live. For previous broadcasts, I go to NPR.org and listen there or read the transcripts of various stories.
     I greatly appreciate these two news shows, especially, Morning Edition. Some folks criticize the broadcasts for having a liberal bias. I don’t see it and, in fact, am impressed with their neutral perspective in presenting the news. I feel like they present the facts, cover both sides of the stories very well, and most importantly, they make my think.
     Thank you and happy birthday Morning Edition.  I have been a fan from the very beginning.

A Small Miracle

wendysmedley.typepad.com

     As I teach at a university, we have faculty development days and forums two to three times a year. We often have outside speakers or our own faculty speaking on various topics from classroom management to pedagogy. Some of the presentations are really useful, others are restatements of what most of us already know we should do but don’t, and as in any conference or business some are just a complete waste of time.
     Before the start of this school year, as per our norm, we had another of these gatherings. It was called the 2019 Professional Development Day. The theme of the morning was “The Call to Service: Culturally Relevant Pedagogies.” The rest of the day was updates on policy and other administrative items that we simply needed to be updated on.
     The morning theme, Culturally Relevant Pedagogies, and the background of the keynote speaker from a prestigious local university had me expecting to be hearing a kind of diversity training session. That would be OK. It would be a good refresher as over the years, I have been required to attend around ten or so at the various companies and schools I have worked. I have been to enough of these to think I could actually run such a training or speak at such an event. I do not, however, expect to be called to do such, any time soon.
     Given that this was a university event, considering the topic, and noting that all the speakers were women half of them of color, there was some chance that I was going to be talked to and lectured at. I am, after all, in the demographic that seems to be held responsible for the social injustices in this country. If not held responsible, I am certainly a beneficiary, to some degree, of white privilege.
     As it turns out, it was not so bad. I did not feel like I was talked to or in a demographic that was being singled out. I just did not relate to much of what the speakers were saying and there were not a lot of attempts at providing real actions. There were undertones of the dialogues on race I have been hearing or reading about lately. It boils down to that I can neither define what racism is nor do I have the ability to know if I am being biased or racist. This is not hopeful. It makes me want to give up on trying any longer to figure this out because by the new definition I am not capable of doing so.
     This made me feel a little frustrated. Note, I was not feeling beaten, battered, or sermonized at. I wasn’t feeling hopeful either. After the keynote, I listened to the response panel of my colleagues but stopped taking notes.
     The last speaker, however, turned it all around. It was Deborah Penny, Professor of Spiritual Formation in our Seminary.  She was amazing and gracious. She talked about it being all our problem and it would take all of us working together to find ways to improve and keep the momentum of what has been gained moving into the future. It was hopeful. I felt I could be part of working toward a better America. I am sure that my summary did not fully convey the full value of the message she shared… as I had stopped taking notes.
     I was intent on thanking Deborah for her very good speech and hopeful message. As the session broke for lunch, she was not to be found. OK. I made a mental note to send her an email expressing my thoughts. Well, I never got around to sending that email even though the thought to do so resurfaced every few days. What can I say, the beginning of the semester and other projects I was immersed in were consuming my time and energy.
     About a month after the event, I ran into Deborah in the parking lot. I greeted her and said, “I owe you an apology. I really liked your words the Professional Development Day and have been meaning to write and tell you that. I was feeling a bit discounted and a bit talked to by the other speakers and your message was positive and uplifting. I really appreciated it.”
     She started crying.
     I started to wonder what I had said wrong or how I might have been insensitive when she said, “Let me explain, why I am crying.” I said, “please do.”Deborah  said, “A few days earlier that I was wondering if my words on that day had any relevance or impact on anyone. I prayed to God to give me a sign.” I said, “Oh my, wow…” and knew I had just experienced the hand of God at work in that small miraculous moment. Then she added, “And, it had to be a white male.” Yes, it did.... indeed it did.

Chidem Inch: Verchabess!

The Montebello Armenian Genocide Martyrs' Monument
asbarez.com

     Verchabess… finally.      Today, Tuesday October 29th, was a most special day for Armenians, especially American Armenians. It was today, that the 116th Congress passed House Resolution 296. A summary of the resolution prepared by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress is:

This resolution states that it is U.S. policy to (1) commemorate the Armenian Genocide, the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923; (2) reject efforts to associate the U.S. government with efforts to deny the existence of the Armenian Genocide or any genocide; and (3) encourage education and public understanding about the Armenian Genocide.

     The full text of the resolution can be found at H.Res.296 - Affirming the United States record on the Armenian Genocide.      The resolution was introduced back on April 18, 2019. It was voted on today. It passed by a wide margin of 405 to 11 warming the hearts and souls of all of Armenians in this country. The passing of a resolution like this in the House of Representatives has been a long time coming.      It was clear to all that H. Res. 296 was passed today as a reaction to our President abandoning our Kurdish allies in Northern Syria and giving Turkey a green light to move militarily against the them. The New York Times stated that the passing of this resolution was “made possible by a new torrent of bipartisan furor at Turkey.” It was wrong to abandon allies like that and it certainly exposed the intolerance of Turkey for its minorities from Ottoman times to now. Clearly, the Kurds in northern Syria are not Turkish citizens but they did have a organized militia that Turkey perceived might aid the Kurds living in Turkey. Also, Turkey does not want an autonomous or independent Kurdish state on its border.
       No matter what the reason, we have been advocating and waiting for a resolution like this to pass since 1965. That was the 50th Anniversary of the Genocide and marked the political awakening of the Armenians in the US in this regard. Today, it finally happened.     Personally, I am happy in a bittersweet kind of way. We have wanted this for a long time and it is good to see it come to fruition. I think the passing of this resolution will further distance the US from Turkey. Admittedly, it is hard for me to be objective, but I have never understood how the US could be so close to Turkey since the establishment of the current Republic.
      What’s next? What will the passing of this resolution mean for the Armenians? Will our presidents, moving forward, use the word Genocide in their April 24th commemorative messages? Are they under any mandate or obligation to do so? I am not sure about any of this. Given we are 104 years after the fact and the US influence in Turkey is probably at the lowest levels since 1923, I have little expectations. I am afraid that will be nothing more than a little speed bump for Turkey.
      For Armenians, we start thinking reparations immediately after recognition. This is why the Republic of Turkey will never recognize what happened as a genocide. It was. I do not see the US advocating for reparations. But then, we were not sure a resolution like this would pass either. Let us, therefore, keep advocating for, as the resolution stated, “Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians” as well as the Kurds.
      Thank you Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, and 166th Congress.