Harmony through music
Amalshan Gunerathne
Not many would be able to give a proper testimony about melodious
power that music possesses to bring people together.
Uniting ordinary Palestine’s and Israelis together, he once created a
platform for commoners from conflicted nations to get together
irrespective of their differences. Prison inmates or wretched souls in
slums may it be, he has been inspirational in providing them with a
medium where they can achieve inner-peace and harmony that would enable
them to experience simple joys of life.
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Professor
Andre de Quadros |
A professor and a scholar of music he may be, but his perception of
music is a simplistic one. Chat with him for a moment and he would lift
your spirits and motivate your jovial genes to run wild with rhythmic
delight. “Everyone has a voice. If you have a voice you can sing, you
may not sing like a great artist, but still you can sing. Excellence
should not be defined solely on technical aspects of singing. For
instance when we see a young child singing, it can be in someway much
more beautiful than a professional singer signing. There is a sense of
beauty, genuineness and sincerity in the way he sings,” he says.
Professor Andre de Quadros’ credentials would suggest that he has
done almost everything. “May be I am bit of a jack of all trades and
master of none,” he says with a cheerful chuckle. But his works as a
conductor, researcher, music educator and a writer would testify that he
is rather a master of many. Also as a human rights activist he has
conducted and undertaken research in over forty countries and currently
works as a professor of music at Boston University.
Q: You have worked with Israeli and Palestine people on music
projects. Were you trying to achieve some sort of peace reconciliation
by doing such a project?
A: I don’t want to over praise myself saying that I am doing
something like peace reconciliation. I am not saying that those two
nations can make peace through music. What I am saying is that ordinary
Palestine’s, ordinary Israelis, ordinary young people should have the
opportunity to meet on common ground and interact with each other; it is
a model for peaceful interaction. It is a harmonious community based non
violent cultural project.
Q: Considering their state of mind, how challenging is it to
work with prison inmates and people in slums and get them involved in
music projects?
A: When I visit prisons and slums, I meet people who are
feeling very low about themselves. But I don’t accept that and I work
with them. We have to change our attitude. We have to change the way we
see the world, the way we see ourselves. Currently I work in a prison in
Boston, it is one of the best groups I have ever worked with. I have
worked with hundreds of groups, but that is just about the easiest group
that I have ever worked with. They are respectful, courteous, very
harmonious, very easy and wonderful group to work with. I don’t go in
there with an attitude. There are people who are there for life, for
things like rape and murder, why should they be treated any different
than the rest.
Q: As a lover of classical music, don’t you feel that younger
generation is moving towards popular music and that the interest towards
classical music is subsiding to a certain extent?
A: I don’t want to say, movement towards popular music is a
problem, may be that is a trend that is happening now. The problem is
something else. The problem is commercial music. There are certain
genres and labels that are dominating the world music and that is more
of a problem. Even in popular music, there are artists, musicians that
do great things, but they don’t get noticed, because mega figures are
attracting all the attention.
Q: How challenging is it to work with different people that
come from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds?
A: I speak many languages, and language is not really a
problem. One has to be sensitive to different cultural norms and
attitudes. You have to learn to interact and be sensitive to different
cultural values.
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Quadros in
performance |
Q: You have seen works of Sri Lankan choirs, your thoughts
where we stand and how our musicians should look to approach the
international audience?
A: Well it is already happening; there are lots of Sri Lankan
musicians and choirs that travel overseas to perform. Fifteen years ago
Sri Lanka was not as much on the map as it is now. People are traveling
more. I have been to the country few times and Sri Lanka does have some
wonderful choirs, there are terrific work happening and they maintain
very high standard of music.
Q: Choir singing is often regarded as something that demands
extreme training, how true is it?
A: It demands no training. I started a project this January in
a prison with twenty three men; many of them have not done it before. If
you have a voice you can sing, you may not sing like a great artist, but
still you can sing.
Your voice is like your face. If somebody said to me I am not as good
looking as tom cruise, fine, I look at my mirror and says that is my
face right? It is just an opinion; does that stop my face from being
seen? I don’t run as fast as some of those people that run in Olympics,
does that stop me form running? I run everyday. We have to recalibrate
our brains on what constitutes good singing? We have to redefine the
excellence.
Excellence should not be defined solely on technical aspects of
singing. For instance when we see a young child singing, it can be in
someway much more beautiful than a professional singer signing. There is
a sense of beauty, genuineness and sincerity in the way he sings.
Q: How important is American representation for events such as
Colombo Music Festival?
A: I think it is fantastic that American centre and American
embassy of Sri Lanka is supporting Colombo music festival, because
American identity and culture is important to event like these,
supporting culture is a core American value.
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