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Bilal Alnemr, a 28-year-old Syrian virtuoso violinist, is bringing together musicians from diverse backgrounds to create a cultural bridge between the East and the West at the Vauvenargues Classical Music Festival in Provence, France.
The picturesque village of Vauvenargues, nestled at the foot of the Sainte-Victoire mountain in Provence, France, is set to host a unique classical music festival from June 15 to 23. The festival, organized by Syrian violinist Bilal Alnemr, aims to transcend borders and build bridges between Eastern and Western cultures through the power of music.
Alnemr, a member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra founded by renowned Israeli-Argentinian musician Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian intellectual Edward Said, has invited an eclectic mix of musicians and composers from Syria, France, Germany, Egypt and Cuba to participate in the festival. The opening concert on Saturday at the Granet Museum in Aix-en-Provence will feature Polish cellist Maciej Kulakowski, American pianist Jonathan Ware, French guitarist Marie Sans and Alnemr himself.
The festival’s philosophy, according to Alnemr, is to foster a sharing of civilizations, particularly between Syrian and French cultures. “I want to share, it’s something stronger than just saying thank you,” he explains. Alnemr’s personal journey has played a significant role in shaping this philosophy. He arrived in France at the age of 13 to continue his studies in Aix-en-Provence, later moving to Paris and Berlin before embarking on his international career as a soloist.
In 2016, Alnemr’s parents, fleeing the war in Syria, joined him in France and were welcomed in Vauvenargues, thanks in large part to the commitment of Mayor Philippe Charrin. For Charrin, this festival “is the continuation of a beautiful story.” Grateful for the welcome his family received, Alnemr decided to organize a portion of the festival’s concerts in Vauvenargues to share his musical passions with the community.
On June 21, during the Fête de la Musique, Alnemr will perform sonatas by German composer Beethoven (1770-1827) and French composer Debussy (1862-1918) alongside Cuban pianist Jorge Gonzalez Buajasan, who also left his country at a young age, and is accustomed to playing with major international orchestras.
The village will resonate with the compositions of German composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) on June 22, as well as a tribute to composer Ligeti (1923-2006) created by Nadim Husni, Alnemr’s first violin teacher, a Syrian composer and conductor exiled in Poland.
The festival will also feature traditional music from the Druze mountain region in southern Syria and Arab-Andalusian music performed by Waed Bouhassoun, a composer, singer and oud player, and Rusan Filiztek, one of the youngest and most prominent representatives of traditional Kurdish music.
The festival is organized by the Ugarit Association, named after an ancient port city in Syria discovered by a French archaeologist. The city is notable for yielding the oldest known example of musical notation in the world, a score engraved on clay tablets now displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
With AFP
