Kinan Azmeh
Syria's Philosophic Musician

By : Hala Droubi
ENIGMA Magazine

Kinan  Azmeh's  features  soften as he recalls a lingering image of a musician touring the world with his instrument on his shoulder "As a child was fascinated by this image I wanted to become that musician . But of course it would be hard to travel around the world with your piano on your
shoulder. So the clarinet it was!"


At twenty-eight, Azmeh has intensely curious eyes, a charming aura and a pure Syrian accent. Yet his power lies in his hands; the hands of a musician. They flirt wittily with the saxophone, play Mozart daintily a clarinet and improvise brilliantly to form dialogues that bridge East and West.

As one of Syria's most promising musicians, Azmeh has a portfolio that speaks for itself. "I follow my passion," he explains, yet his ethereal qualities are balanced by the pragmatic work ethic synonymous with all the world's greatest musicians. He 'drills' himself impromptu musical decisions. As a result Azmeh has managed to create a richly diverse portfolio.

A prestigious scholarly background forms the backdrop to Azmeh's distinctive talent. He holds a B.M. in clarinet performance from the Damascus high institute of Music as well a B.E. in electrical engineering. He received the first prize at the Nicolay Rubinstein International Youth competition in Mossco at age 21, and was the only Syrian and the first Arab to do so. Azmeh then decided to pursue a Masters at one of the world's top breeding grounds for young classical musicians , the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Like many young Arabs at the time , the effects of the Septemper 11th attacks, (which took place within weeks of his arrival), affected Azmeh's experience in the U.S. Azmeh had to develop "an open mind and flexible outlook" to negotiate the intimidations and stereotypes that he would subsequently encounter, "I would meet people, and once they knew I was Syrian or Arab, I was immediately labelled and treated differently," he explains. "I chose to respond to such stereotypes as there is always a common point even between the most opposing views in the world. It all depends on how you view things. Rather than focusing on the ten thousand things that hold us apart, we could simply embrace things that we share and connect through this common ground. Once people do this, they can transform a defensive argument into a dialogue!"

 

His hands flirt wittily with the saxophone, play Mozart daintily a clarinet and improvise brilliantly to form dialogues that bridge East and West.


His idealistic views transfer seamlessly to his ideas on music and philosophy, which are intrinsic to his career in music. For Azmeh, musician should be able to create dialogue with other musicians through their instruments to form a musical 'relationship' . He argues that the narrow-minded assumption that certain instruments 'do not go together' ultimately hinders the production of beautiful and original music. Azmeh has therefore participated in and organised different projects, which aim to harness a melting pot of musical styles. His graduation project was an acoustic journey, presenting listeners with a depiction of what a person in Iraq would be hearing during the American invasion. It fused his clarinet performances with an electrical-computer based mix to recreate the haunting horrors of war. Exceptionally, it was performed in New York three days after the American invasion of Iraq.

Another one of his highly innovative musical creations, 'The Gilgamesh' project, is an original rendition of the epic of Gilgamish, This piece intrigued audiences by fusing Azmeh's clarinet with spontaneous paintings by famous American-Syrian painter Kevork Mourad. Both artist intuitively interact with the texts in their own way, un a performances at the Juilliard School and the Chelsea Museum in New York. Azmeh and Mourad are also part of the quartet Neolexica (piano , clarinet, electronics and visuals) who play around New York City.

During the course of his musical career, Azmeh has also appeared as a soloist across the world, in Germany , Italy, Greece, Turky, Russia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. He also did a solo performance with the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra during its first American tour. Azmeh has subsequently shared the stage with renowned artist such as Marcel Khalife, Sylvain Kassab and Eliott Sharp, and has appeared as a member of the Syrian pop group ,"Kulna Sawa"(All of Us Together). Azmeh is also credited for the soundtrack of the award-winning documentary Control Room (2004).


"Whether I am playing in a prestigious hall, or with at home with my friends, performing music is always fulfilling for me."
 


Yet for Azmeh it is the musical experience rather than the glory of a performance that he most enjoys. "Whether I am playing in a prestigious hall, or with at home with my friends, performing music is always fulfilling, and a concert is just the means by which I reach this fulfilment." However the thrill of performing live gives musicians a certain power and energy, which is addictive. As he explains, "I was performing at the Syrian opera house once, and there was a very short pause in the piece that I was playing. So I paused. For the first time I looked at the audience, and everyone was listening, without a single sound in the crowd. The feeling was just magnificent. I stretched the pause for a few extra seconds, enjoying the sensation and the authority. It is a great feeling because you know you have gained this power not through force or weapons, but merely through music."

In cooperation with his friend Isam Rafea, a reputed musician and a principal conductor of the Syrian National Arabic Music Orchestra, the tireless Azmeh has founded the band "Hewar" (Dialogue) , which has toured throughout Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East. The group's stlistic composition mixes Western and Eastern instruments, producing oriental jazz with an extraordinary twist. "The formula is simple," explains Azmeh. "We compose the first few lines and then we improvise intuitively on them. On stage we are all part of the dialogue. Each one of us is equally involved in adding his touch and making it survive to the end."


there is little doubt that this extraordinary musician will keep giving audiences worldwide inspiration and pleasure, although his own philosophical musical journey may never be complete. "I cannot imagine a point where I would say 'I've reached the top'; because doing so means that I will stop moving further! I would be killing the very sense of motivation within me. you should always push yourself so as to reach the so called 'top' and enjoy the journey towards it!"