Can music solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
That possibility is being considered by a class at Salem State, which will host the SHARQ Arabic Music Ensemble on Monday, Feb. 13, for a performance and master class that are both open to the public.
The class, which is studying Israeli-Palestinian musical collaborations, will not only listen to the music that SHARQ plays, but also ask questions about the role of music and musicians in Arabic culture.
"I try to choose materials for the class that I can tie to real-world events and, when possible, face-to-face interactions," professor Peter Kvetko said.
Students' questions will be answered mostly by Karim Nagi, who was born in Egypt and moved to the United States as a young teenager, and founded the ensemble in 1999.
Nagi previously taught as an adjunct professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, and plays the riqq, a tambourine, among several other percussion instruments.
Legend states that the frame of the riqq was fitted with cymbals to combine the sound of a drum, played by Bedouins as they roamed, with the ankle bells of their camels, Nagi said.
"Although this story is not confirmable, I do love it for its lore," he said.
He is joined in SHARQ (which means "East" in Arabic) by Boujemaa Razgui, from Marrakech, Morocco, who will play a bamboo flute called a nay, and also by Aboud Agha, originally from Aleppo, Syria, who plays the oud, an Arabic lute, and also sings.
Kvetko said that Western music depends on chord changes, interacting with a melody, to create a sense of tension and release, while Arabic music is modal.
That means it never leaves a home key, called a "maqam," and relies instead on melodic, rather than harmonic development to elicit a response.
"Each maqam has eight notes and/or pitches," Nagi said, and "each maqam creates a specific mood, emotion, sensation and psychic reaction. The composer or performer chooses a specific maqam in order to evoke a feeling in the listener, and guide them on an emotional or transcendental journey."
Nagi said that their concert will include discussion of the instruments, and of regional differences in the music, along with some explanation of lyrics and song meanings.
To some extent his concert at Salem State will "simply allow the audience to have their own subjective and spontaneous reactions" to the music, Nagi said, but he will also offer some pointers.
"At some point in every performance I like to coach a Western audience on how to listen to our music," he said. "I specifically show them how an Arab audience would respond to certain musical moments in their chants, remonstrations, and clapping."
He also hopes his audience will gain some valuable insights from listening to SHARQ.
"My goal is to familiarize people with Arab culture through music," he said. "My hope is that the audience will realize that the word 'Arab' is not a profanity, nor a divisive term. It can be used to refer to a culture, and not just evoke a political issue."
"Through this music," Nagi said, "and the exposure to our culture, Arabs will be humanized to the American audience, and the imagined 'clash of civilizations' will be diffused."
If you go
What: SHARQ Arabic Music Ensemble
When: Monday, Feb. 13, master class 11 a.m., concert 7:30 p.m.
Where: Recital Hall, 71 Loring Ave., Salem State University
Information: Concert tickets $15, $10 non-Salem State students and seniors, at www.salemstatetickets.com and at the door. Master class is free. For more call 978-542-7890 or visit salemstate.edu/arts.
