Immediately following their week in Italy, seven OUO string players, along with conductor Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey, travelled to Washington, D.C. for an outreach tour. The OUO members collaborated with a group of US-based Afghan refugee musicians, arranged by Cayenna. Three of the Afghan musicians visited D.C. in 2013 as part of a tour with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), and during that tour collaborated with the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras (MCYO) and the Holton-Arms School. OUO violist Alice Sprinkle, an alumna of both MCYO and Holton-Arms, participated in both of those events in 2013, and helped facilitate this OUO tour to bring Afghan music back to those institutions.
Recently, music has been banned in Afghanistan by the Taliban, and Afghan musicians have had to flee to avoid severe punishment. The opportunity to introduce young people to Afghan music and musicians was profound. OUO is honoured to have been able to be involved in this project.
On their first day of outreach, the OUO and Afghan musicians collaborated with East County Strings, a branch of MCYO. East County Strings provides students at underfunded middle schools in Montgomery County, MD the opportunity to learn a string instrument. The East County Strings programme culminates yearly in a mass string ensemble performance at the Music Center at Strathmore, comprising of students from ten local middle schools.
Arson Fahim, an Afghan pianist and composer, created Medley of Afghan Songs, an arrangement designed for the East County Strings students to perform at Strathmore. OUO and Afghan musicians joined the mass orchestra side-by-side to rehearse and perform the piece, conducted by Cayenna. OUO musicians also joined the ensemble for the rest of the programme to support the students. In between the rehearsal and the concert, the OUO and Afghan musicians gave a mini-concert in the Strathmore lobby, introducing the students to Afghan instruments and sounds.
The next day of outreach began at the Holton-Arms School, where the OUO-Afghan group held a side-by-side workshop with the school’s Chamber Orchestra. The workshop introduced the students to Afghan music, especially rhythmic patterns. The Afghan musicians took turns introducing their instruments, including tabla, rubab, and sitar. After lunch in Holton’s dining hall, the Chamber Orchestra joined the group for an assembly, which included speeches and musical performances. The response from the audience was incredibly positive – one Holton teacher reported hearing students leaving the auditorium saying ‘that was so cool’!
Later that evening, the group returned to Strathmore for a side-by-side workshop with MCYO’s Philharmonic, the most advanced orchestra in their programme. Like with the Holton-Arms assembly, the workshop began with demonstrations by the Afghan musicians, followed by rehearsals of two pieces by Afghan composers. First, cellist and composer Nazira Wali, who played with MCYO as a member of the Afghan Youth Orchestra in 2013, introduced her piece Endless. In describing her piece, which depicts the Taliban’s brutal takeover of Afghanistan, she said ‘my desire has grown even more to continue making music and to show the Taliban that they can burn the instruments but will never be able to remove music from our hearts’. Following Endless, Cayenna introduced the second piece, A Journey Through Diversity: Traditional Songs from Afghanistan, an arrangement by German-based Afghan composer Mohammad Qambar Nawshad. MCYO musicians enjoyed playing Afghan music and were excited to learn about life in Oxford from OUO musicians.
The next morning, the OUO-Afghan group was treated to a private tour of the US Capitol, made possible by New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen. The group enjoyed exploring the building and learning about its history.
Later that evening, the OUO musicians (joined by guest cellist Lourdes de la Peña) performed Respighi’s Double Quartet for a private soiree hosted by the Oxford University Alumni Society of Washington, D.C. The event, which was open to Oxford alumni, sold out almost instantly. The dynamic octet performance was followed by a reception.
The next day was a full itinerary of sightseeing in D.C. The OUO musicians enjoyed wandering through Smithsonian museums, monuments, and memorials. D.C.’s famous cherry blossom trees were blooming along the Tidal Basin, which made for a magical finish to the day.
To end the tour, the OUO musicians and Cayenna held a side-by-side workshop for members of the College Park Youth Orchestra (CPYO), introducing its members to Afghan and British repertoire. Pieces included Arson’s Medley of Afghan Songs and Edward Elgar’s Serenade for Strings.
OUO would like to thank all of our collaborators for making the U.S. tour such a success!
