03 June 2008
Artists with Disabilities Shine at Washington’s Kennedy Center
Young musicians from Jordan, Senegal, United States display range of styles
Washington -- Eight young artists from the United States, Jordan and Senegal recently performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the recipients of an award that recognizes outstanding young musicians with disabilities.
The May 29 concert in Washington showcased the winners of a competition known as the VSA arts International Young Soloists Award, sponsored by VSA arts, a nonprofit organization that aims to make the arts accessible to everyone, including the disabled.
The performers, all in their teens or 20s, included a hip-hop ensemble from Dakar, Senegal; an oud player from Amman, Jordan; a classical pianist from Montana; and a vocal ensemble from Arizona. They were recognized not only for their talent but for overcoming obstacles that most people never encounter.
HIP-HOP WITH AN AFRICAN FLAVOR
With a sound that fuses hip-hop beats and traditional African elements, the group Avocat Rap Bi has been a consistent crowd-pleaser in Senegal since its formation in 1999. Its members -- Mandaw Gning, 27 and a polio survivor, Idrissa Fall, 21, and Mbéne Amare, 22 -- spoke with America.gov through interpreters and explained that listening to rap music led them to hip-hop. Before long, they began writing and performing their own songs, incorporating native African rhythms into a hip-hop format.
Because Avocat Rap Bi is a vocal act, its members perform to a pre-recorded instrumental soundtrack. Gning, Fall and Amare point to American rappers Tupac Shakur, 50 Cent and Ja Rule as their primary musical influences, along with such Senegalese groups as Positive Black Soul (also known as PBS) and Daradj.
“We compose our own music,” said Amare. “All three of us write the lyrics, working together.” They also occasionally weave other artists’ songs into their repertoire. The group has made five demonstration recordings, going to studios to mix their vocals with backup music. “It is our dream to make CDs,” said Gning. “We hope to tour the world.” Their fan base has grown so large in Senegal that major corporations, including Nescafé, Coca Cola and Marlboro, have sponsored many of the group’s concerts.
Avocat Rap Bi is dynamic and upbeat, but it has a serious side, too. “Our message is anti-violence, anti-aggression,” said Amare. “We encourage young Africans not to risk their lives by using dangerous means to leave Africa” in search of employment. “We want the continent’s youth to stay and invest themselves in Africa,” he added. “If we can earn money by doing what we love, we can show young Africans that it’s possible for them to have a future in their home countries.”
For the group, performing at the Kennedy Center represents a big step toward gaining wider recognition. If the group is able to arrange an overseas tour and distribute its recordings, said Gning, “we’ll know that our message is really getting through” to audiences everywhere.
HOPING TO INSPIRE OTHERS
Issam Ibrahim Elayyan, a 21-year-old oud player who began losing his vision at age 7, is due to receive his bachelor’s degree from The National Music Conservatory of Jordan within a month. He began his formal training on the oud -- a traditional Arab lute-like instrument -- only a few years ago. “I was 18 years old when I began studying the oud, and I did it because my father urged me to,” he said. He also studies the violin.
“I play music in different styles and tempos, and I hope to record someday,” he said. “I would also like to tour around the world.”
A specialist in Arabic classical music and a member of the Amman Arab Music Quartet, Elayyan has performed in festivals and concerts worldwide, entertaining crowds in France, Cyprus, Egypt and Bahrain. Concerts in Italy and in Cyprus are scheduled for July. Afterward, Elayyan plans to earn a master’s degree.
Elayyan said he is eager to share his cultural heritage with audiences, and he particularly enjoys playing the oud in front of other people who have disabilities. “It’s great,” he said. “I hope it encourages them to pursue their own goals.”
REVAMPING THE IMAGE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
Ashlee Young, a 20-year-old sophomore at Montana State University-Billings, began her musical training on the piano at age 4. Piano practice was not always a top priority during her childhood, but her gift was so apparent that she found herself devoting more and more time to the instrument. “I’ve been in competition since I was 12,” she said, recalling that she “first thought seriously” about a musical career in secondary school.
Since then, Young, who has scoliosis (an abnormal curvature of the spine) and depression, has been performing regularly. She won the 2007 Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras Competition and appeared with the Great Falls Symphony on the same bill as world-renowned violinist Midori. Although Young typically performs as a soloist, she said she looks forward to other collaborations. “I was hoping to work with [the late Italian tenor Luciano] Pavarotti at some point,” she said. “I still hope to work with Martha Argerich,” an Argentine concert pianist recognized as one of the greatest pianists now living.
Young said her favorite composers are Franz Liszt, Joseph Haydn, and Olivier Messiaen, a 20th-century French composer, organist and teacher known for his use of mystical and religious themes.
Her goal, she said, is to get an “emotional reaction” from an audience when she performs -- and to update the image of classical music, which is sometimes considered stodgy and dull. “I like to get people excited,” she explained. “And I would like to make people realize that classical music isn’t just a bunch of old men” because the genre is constantly revitalized by young artists and composers who sustain, challenge and reinterpret the musical canon.
SEPARATE ENTITIES, COMING TOGETHER
The MacIntyre Family Singers -- siblings Scott, 22, and Katelyn, 17, both blind since birth, and Todd, 19, who is sighted -- are seasoned vocalists who perform as a trio and also as soloists. They began taking piano and voice lessons when they were pre-teens.
“For me, nothing has replaced the piano,” said Scott, who started out as a classical pianist. He accompanies himself on the piano as a soloist, and he occupies the same role for the MacIntyre Family Singers. Both Scott and Todd have a remarkably wide vocal range, so they perform music written for tenors and for bass/baritones, which makes them rarities in musical circles.
Soprano Katelyn, like her brothers, has a foundation in different musical styles, “but probably my strongest [genre] is opera,” she said. “I also do a little musical theater, and material that could be described as a hybrid of classical and pop music -- what some people call ‘popera.’” She cited George Frideric Handel as her favorite composer.
The MacIntyres are considering performing in Japan soon, and Todd will release his debut classical CD at the end of August. Asked what they hope to convey to their audiences, Katelyn said: “I want to show how much I love singing. I hope that people will be touched by us, and be able to relate to our story.”
Since “this is a VSA event,” said Todd, “I hope people will appreciate what Scott and Katelyn have had to overcome” in developing their artistry.
More information about VSA arts is available on the organization’s Web site.
