Kamkars; Kurdish Melody, Symphony Orchestra, and War Children

The magnificent Barbican Hall in London hosted the Kamkars group on Sunday night, June 19, thanks to the efforts of two institutions, Nova and Global Heritage, accompanied by the Docklands Symphony Orchestra and the London Contemporary Voices choir; a charity concert in support of war children in Syria residing in Kurdistan. Over fifty symphony orchestra musicians and more than thirty choir singers created a majestic atmosphere for the first part of the concert, but the experience of combining classical instruments with Kurdish singing did not seem sufficiently successful. Fortunately, unlike most Iranian concerts held in London, this concert had a brochure explaining the pieces and mentioning the composer and lyricist for each section, but it was strange that the order of the pieces written in the brochure was not followed, which confused the audience. The first piece, which was supposed to be performed by Saba Kamkar and David Basu with Arslan Kamkar's instrument, was omitted for unspecified reasons. Perhaps some of these issues were due to the group's late arrival: as Saba pointed out, they had just arrived at the airport at four in the afternoon on the same day due to visa issues! The concert brochure noted that this was the first time an English symphony orchestra had performed a complete Iranian symphony in Britain. Hooshang Kamkar's music for the symphony orchestra showcases the Kamkars' efforts to transcend the realms in which they are famous. However, perhaps their audience was more eager for the type of music that the Kamkars are masters of, resulting in the second part, featuring traditional Kurdish music, being much more warmly received. The pieces in the first part were all themed around peace and created for war children, with lyrics in Kurdish, English, and Persian. In 'Song of Peace,' Persian poems by Baba Tahir and Saadi, sung by Saba Kamkar, were accompanied by the choir's Persian repetition and a foreign tenor singer, creating a different atmosphere; including one of the most well-known Persian poems on human rights: 'Human beings are members of a single body...' In the piece 'From the Night House,' where Ardeshir Kamkar joined the symphony orchestra with his kamancheh, we encountered a better combination, and the Eastern atmosphere of the music and its composer was more felt. Among them was a piece titled 'Quotations of Peace and Love' composed by Mehran Rouhani, performed with the soprano of his daughter Hani Rouhani, which had no connection to the rest of the concert (all works by the Kamkars) and was only related to the concert's spirit through its theme; featuring various quotes and phrases from well-known historical figures, from Rumi and Saadi to Tolstoy and Martin Luther King and Gandhi. However, the predominantly Kurdish audience was eagerly awaiting the second part for this famous musical family, who have been performing for decades and are the most well-known Kurdish music group in the world (and probably the largest music group in the world composed of a single family), to come together on stage: Bijan Kamkar (singer and daf player), Arslan Kamkar (oud), Ardeshir Kamkar (kamancheh), Ardavan Kamkar (santur), Arzhang Kamkar (tonbak), Saba Kamkar (singer), and of course Hooshang Kamkar, who manages the artistic direction of the group. The appealing feature of the second part - for both Kurdish and Iranian audiences as well as English spectators - is the joyous nature of these pieces, which share local songs with notable arrangements with their audience; the more joyous, the more successful in attracting the audience, to the extent that, as expected, a piece like 'You Are My Love' made some audience members at the back of the hall dance. In 'Soodaye Eshq' and 'Begozaar Beravam,' the local characteristics of Kurdistan are intertwined with the fabric of the music, and during the performance, the audience can naturally recall the plains and meadows of Kurdistan; likewise, the choir's harmony in some parts goes beyond ordinary physical harmony and approaches a spiritual harmony that reflects their familial connection.