Cross-cultural music program presents performances
By Marta Helper-Drahos
Record-Eagle
Ronnie Malley and Zeshan Bagewadi got a rock band’s welcome at Traverse City West Middle School.
The Muslim-American musicians performed Monday for the school’s sixth- through eighth-grade music and theater students. Within minutes they had the students cheering, clapping, swaying and dancing.
“Kids are our best audiences,” said Malley, a Palestinian-American multi-instrumentalist.
“And they’re honest,” added Bagewadi, an Indian-American vocalist. “If they like you, they like you. And if they don’t, they get bored.”
The musicians and their band worked with area students this week as part of a “Caravanserai” residency arranged by the Dennos Museum Center. The program is supported by Arts Midwest and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art to offer presentations that celebrate global diversity through performances by Muslim-American artists.
“They’re picking small communities in the Midwest that they can bring these diverse cultures to,” said Jason Dake, curator of education at the Dennos, where the musicians will perform a public concert Saturday. “It makes more of an impact in Traverse City than it would in Detroit or Dearborn where there’s already a lot of diversity.”
Malley and Bagewadi are both from Chicago and met when they began touring together with Caravanserai, subtitled “American Voices – A Place Where Cultures Meet.” Each was raised speaking English and their parents’ native tongue and listening to music in both languages. Now their cross-cultural musical styles reflect the diversity of influences, languages and cultures that infuse the American immigrant experience.
“It’s a lot like America. Everyone is all mixed,” said Malley, whose American jazz and rock roots combine with Arab, Turkish, Balkan, South Asian and music traditions. “And it gives you an opportunity to see where music intersects. Nothing is exclusive. It all builds on each other.
“And more important, it’s an expression of who I am. I grew up listening to the music of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden but also to ‘Om Kalthoum,’ a classical Arabic song,” he said.
“Mixing styles appeals to me because it is me. It’s what I know,” said Bagewadi, a classically-trained opera singer who stretches the boundaries of his cultural and musical influences to include South Asian qawwali, jazz standards and indie-rock. “And the same with Ronnie. Hearing all these things is just us being us.”
Besides performing, the musicians taught Traverse City West Middle School students Hindi and Arab phrases and songs, demonstrated musical scales used in Middle Eastern and Indian music, and talked about their instruments, including the Middle Eastern riq, oud and darbuka (Egyptian tambourine, lute and drums) and Indian tablas and harmonium (drums and reed organ with hand-pumped bellows).
“This is so great for our kids,” said band director Flournoy Humphreys, of the program’s musical and cultural diversity. “I think it’s extremely important that our students get exposed to that.”
The musicians also worked with students at The Children’s House and Traverse City West Senior High, the Dennos Museum Center and Northwestern Michigan College.
“Having the residency is a really great chance for students to get a more in-depth conversation about the music and the culture,” Dake said. “Given the statements people have been making recently, this is a good opportunity to have some of the conversation. But the focus is on the music and the culture and making sure people are learning about them.”
Caravanserai, named after the ancient inns where caravans could stop to eat and rest, will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Dennos Museum Center’s Milliken Auditorium. The program will include individual sets by Malley and Bagewadi and a combined set featuring the musicians and a backing band.
Tickets are $23 at the door or $20 in advance at dennosmuseum.org or mynorthtickets.com or by phone at 231-995-1553 or 800-836-0717.
Source: www.record-eagle.com