Africa Express Presents… The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians with Damon Albarn and Guests

In the spotlight tonight are the members of The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians, featuring former and current members of the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music (SNOAM). The orchestra will

be joined by performers from Britain and Syria as well as Algeria, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Tunisia and the United States, including Damon Albarn, Bassekou Kouyaté, Bu Kolthoum, Eslam Jawaad, Faia Younan, Malikah, Mounir Troudi, Noura Mint Seymali, Paul Weller, Rachid Taha, Seckou Keita, and TALA for a rare concert to showcase Syrian and Arabic music. 

Albarn first played with Syrian conductor Issam Rafea and SNOAM musicians at the Damascus Opera House in 2008. He later worked with Rafea and members of the orchestra when they appeared on the Gorillaz track White Flag. The musicians, together with Rafea, joined Gorillaz on their 2010 Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour which included shows at the 11th century Citadel in Damascus, Syria, as well as dates in Lebanon and across Europe and North America. 

As a result of the on-going conflict, many Syrian musicians – including Issam Rafea – have been forced to leave their country. This special concert will see musicians who previously worked with Albarn, travelling from both inside and outside Syria, to reunite for an orchestral performance of Arabic music alongside Albarn and the other guest performers. The event will highlight and celebrate the remarkable music culture of Syria, offering an alternative providing a more positive perspective than events currently seen in the news. As well as tonight’s concert in Amsterdam, The Orchestra of Syrian Musicians will open the UK’s high profile Glastonbury Festival, ahead of a show at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London which will be streamed globally via YouTube; with additional dates also scheduled for Istanbul and Denmark’s Roskilde Festival next week. 

Reunion

The orchestra members have been looking forward to working together again. ‘It’s fantastic Damon Albarn has brought the orchestra back together,’ said Rafea, who is still involved with the orchestra as a muscial advisor. ‘It was his idea – fifty former and current members of the orchestra will join the tour: twenty singers and thirty instrumentalists. It wasn’t straightforward getting so many of us together. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes – Africa Express has laboured tirelessly.’ 

Rafea sees this reunion as more than just a festive occasion. It is a concert for peace in a time of pain and despair: ‘I’m convinced that music can make an effective contribution towards peace. It’s no easy task, but the universal language of music can enable us to communicate openly and with a positive and peaceable attitude with musicians from other parts of the world, in spite of our differences. This is ultimately the core of any meaningful peace – in Syria, too. The orchestra is performing here with an overwhelming sense of sadness, but Syrians have decided life must go on. They don’t give up, however much pain they suffer. They carry on making music, art and theatre, in the hope of a better future. I’m sure that by using all of the energy we have in us we can show a little of Syria as it should be. We hope the situation in Syria as it should be. We hope the situation in Syria soon returns to normal.’