{"id":20360,"date":"2015-11-12T16:30:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T22:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=20360"},"modified":"2015-11-17T15:54:09","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T21:54:09","slug":"syrian-jazz-fusion-band-to-play-at-refugee-relief-concert-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/syrian-jazz-fusion-band-to-play-at-refugee-relief-concert-in-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrian jazz fusion band to play at refugee relief concert in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Connelly Holmes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Syrian band Hewar<\/a> is scheduled to play at a concert in Chicago on Saturday to benefit Syrian refugee children. All proceeds will go to Save the Children<\/a>, an aid organization that focuses on children across the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all just amazing musicians of extraordinary caliber, so just to have that evening out as a cultural experience would be a treat,\u201d said Elaine Waxman, one of the organizers of the event, \u201cand then made that much more meaningful by the opportunity to raise money for the Save the Children relief effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hewar was formed in 2003 as a collaboration between Kinan Azmeh<\/a>, a clarinetist and composer, and his colleague Issam Rafea<\/a>, an oud<\/a> player, an instrument in Middle Eastern music similar to the lute. Both Syrian, Azmeh and Rafea met each other while in school in Damascus.<\/p>\n

Azmeh and Rafea added Dima Orsho<\/a>, a lyrical soprano, to the band after its inception. On Saturday, they will play with special guest percussionist Omar Al-Musfi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A classically trained clarinetist, Azmeh has a doctorate from City University of New York, or CUNY, and a master\u2019s from the Julliard School. He has played concerts in countries such as Lebanon, France, England and the United States. Saturday would be his first benefit concert in Chicago for humanitarian relief.<\/p>\n

Since March 2011, Azmeh has been playing concerts all over the world to benefit Syrian refugees. He has performed for refugees in Jordan and taught music in the camps as well.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t happen immediately. It took Azmeh more than a year after the Arab Spring to feel emotionally ready to write music again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a year I realized that I owed it to myself to write and to keep my voice loud,\u201d Azmeh said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m lucky that I have an instrument that actually can be quite loud if it needs to be, and I felt, you know what, that me making music is an act of freedom and I want to practice that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name Hewar means \u201cdialogue\u201d in Arabic, which is an essential part of the band\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole idea is that a conversation between two people is larger than the sum of their individual ideas,\u201d Azmeh said.<\/p>\n

Collaboration is what made the concert possible. One of Azmeh\u2019s music students actually suggested the idea to him, and then got to work in her congregation to make it possible.<\/p>\n

Katia Waxman, Elaine Waxman\u2019s daughter and a 17-year-old junior at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, met Azmeh in 2012 at Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music<\/a> in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

He was Katia Waxman\u2019s teacher for the clarinet, and the two quickly formed a friendship and a mentor-mentee bond. For years she was looking for the right event to bring him to Chicago. When reports about the refugee crisis started coming in the last year, she pitched the idea to her mother, her congregation Tzedek Chicago<\/a>, and Azmeh.<\/p>\n

They all emphatically said \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so excited,\u201d Katia Waxman said. \u201cHe\u2019s been a really important part of my musical growth, so I\u2019m excited to introduce him to the rest of my musical world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The high school junior and her mother belong to the Jewish congregation Tzedek Chicago, which shares a space with Luther Memorial Church<\/a>, a Lutheran parish in Lincoln Square. Luther Memorial Church was excited to share its 340-seat church for a concert by candlelight, Elaine Waxman said.<\/p>\n

The two congregations are joint sponsors of the event.<\/p>\n

Once the space was booked and Luther Memorial and Tzedek were on board, Elaine Waxman contacted Save the Children, which immediately agreed to be the concert\u2019s beneficiary.<\/p>\n

Azmeh said he likes working with organizations where he knows all the money will go directly to the relief efforts. As for the concert itself, he hopes it provides a muse for giving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the outcome of this is that is inspires people,\u201d Azmeh said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it makes people feel happy, that\u2019s a great reward for us if people just simply enjoy the concert,\u201d he said. \u201cBut also we\u2019re hoping for something more immediate that people do feel inspired to act and do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s concert is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church, located at 2500 W. Wilson Ave., in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Kinan Azmeh in concert. (Kinan Azmeh\/Courtesy)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Connelly Holmes The Syrian band Hewar is scheduled to play at a concert in Chicago on Saturday to benefit Syrian refugee children. All proceeds will go to Save the Children, an aid organization that focuses on children across the globe. \u201cThey\u2019re all just amazing musicians of extraordinary caliber, so just to have that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":20362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,509,30],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-20360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-fall-2015","category-public-affairs","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nSyrian jazz fusion band to play at refugee relief concert in Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/syrian-jazz-fusion-band-to-play-at-refugee-relief-concert-in-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Syrian jazz fusion band to play at refugee relief concert in Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ryan Connelly Holmes The Syrian band Hewar is scheduled to play at a concert in Chicago on Saturday to benefit Syrian refugee children. 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