PREVIEW
Kinan Azmeh CityBand
Saturday, Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Arden Theatre
5 St. Anne Street
Tickets: $42. Call 780-459-1542 or at www.ticketmaster.ca
Kinan Azmeh is a renowned Syrian clarinetist and a Grammy Award-winning member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. He’s played in all the great halls of the world including the United Nations.
But to this day he struggles with what his role as musician should be. Although Azmeh has lived in New York for 15-plus years, the Syrian civil uprising in March 2011 affected him so profoundly he stopped composing for a year.
“What I experienced was more complex and deeper than what I could express. I was engaged in emotions that I had never felt before,” said Azmeh.
But unlike many countrymen who lost family, homes and freedom, Azmeh recognized his good fortune and regained the will to give his nation a voice through music.
“By 2012, I was writing music. I wanted to bring all these thoughts to the public, to experience or explain emotions we can’t explain in real life.”
The ongoing Syrian war has made him angry.
“It’s not just a Syrian tragedy. It’s a human tragedy. But I always channel the anger I have into something more proactive.”
Azmeh will give a taste of his legacy through the Kinan Azmeh CityBand performing Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Arden Theatre.
The four-man virtuosic ensemble strives to create a balance between classical music, jazz and the music of Syria. One internet critic described their sound as: “Kinan’s expressive clarinet meets Kyle Sanna’s rustic guitar, soaring at times over the dynamic and volatile backdrop of John Hadfield’s percussion and Josh Meyer’s double bass.”
Azmeh’s devotion to music and his country started at a young age. Born into a family of professionals – his mother is an oncologist, his father an engineer – Azmeh was exposed to Syria’s centuries-old culture at a young age.
He started playing violin at age five, but switched to the clarinet, a more even-handed instrument two years later.
“At age seven, the idea of being a musician and travelling the world was exciting.”
While practices at time felt like additional homework, “I was moved by something and I won’t forget the times I would get goose bumps playing music,” Azmeh said.
In addition to learning about Syria’s art, music and paintings, Azmeh was a proficient young soccer player and won the Damascus Tennis Championship at 14.
A modern Renaissance man, he first earned a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Damascus followed by a music degree at the Damascus Institute of Music.
“You have to train to do anything. You have to have a passion to achieve. I have a passion for physics, math and music. All are equally abstract. When you compose, there is a spillover.”
Three days before the CityBand arrives in St. Albert, it will premiere the New Clarinet Concerto with the Seattle Symphony, and a new album, Uneven Sky, will be released this winter.
At the Arden concert, CityBand will play new, experimental pieces intertwined with banter.
“Our job as artists is to make a connection between the ear of the listener and the brain. We’re all in this together. Come with an open mind.”
