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| Dr. Keren Avirame (photo courtesy KA) |
With the anniversary of J.S.Bach's
birth date on March 21st, March 2022 has been alive with many and various
concerts of the composer's music. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) has often
been referred to as the "greatest composer of all time". Talking of
Bach's music, South Korean composer Unsuk Chin, today residing in
Berlin, claims that Bach’s music "displays great emotions and fiery
temperament, while being the highest conceivable summit of composition as an
intellectual art."
Taking place on March 30th at the Willy
Brandt Center (Jerusalem), "Bach and the Brain", a talk by
neuroscientist/neurotherapist Dr. Keren Avirame, was certainly a very different
Bach-oriented event. Prior to the lecture, Dr. Avirame wrote in a Facebook
posting: "This
event will merge two loves of mine, Bach and the brain.
It will take place… just before the holiness of the month of April this year
(Ramadan, Passover and Easter)” and “it encourages me to publicly ask those who love Bach
and those who don't: What is Bach for you?" Introducing speaker and guest
artists, WBC project coordinator for social art Petra Klose welcomed those
drawn to the center to hear about Bach from a very different angle.
The evening opened
with Bulgarian pianist Dimitrina Milenova taking the audience into the Bach
mindset and sound world with a pleasing, well-crafted and contrasted performance of three of
the Two- and Three-Part Inventions. Then to the lecture, in which Dr. Avirame
covered much ground. She spoke of cognition, of how differently the brain
functions nowadays in processing information, of the brain being multimodal,
having several networks. She spoke of perception and prediction, about the
analytical left brain, as opposed to the more emotionally-oriented right brain,
of the fact that the nervous system is a rapid learning system and that we have
very different levels of processing. Referring to "From Bacteria to Bach
and Back", about the origin of human consciousness, she mentioned how philosopher
Daniel Dennett talks of different levels of intelligence, choosing Bach's music
as the highest of 4th-level thinking. She spoke of music as stimulating emotion
and spirituality, of how brain waves synchronize to rhythm and how musical
experience enlists the brain, heartbeat and nervous system to join in
teamwork.
Keren Avirame has
asked friends (scientists and musicians) what Bach means for them. She said
there is something about Bach that scientists love, that Bach was a
"mathematician", that the brain creates order from chaos and that
Bach understood the brain. In addition to providing much scientific
information, Avirame wished to share her own personal journey with Bach - that,
in listening to- and thinking about Bach, she hears structure, that its distinct
patterns clear her mind, unveiling- and reminding us of creation.
Accompanied by Dimitrina Milenova, we then heard young German soprano Julia Binek, currently a member of the Jerusalem Lyric Opera Studio, in a performance of "Blute nur, du liebes Herz!" (Bleed out, you loving heart) from Bach's St. Matthew Passion.
Following the talk, we
adjourned to a terrace to enjoy some excellent vegetarian/vegan cuisine
prepared by young chef Izzeldin Abdul Aziz Bukhari from the Old City of Jerusalem.
Owner of Sacred Cuisine, a company that collaborates with local organizations
and businesses to organize thought-provoking Somi food events that bring people
together around food experiences, Izzeldin Abdul Aziz talked of his family
roots in Sufism. “In Sufism,” he explained, “feeding others is considered to be
the highest form of worship.”
Taking place in the
intimate salon of the Willy Brandt Center, this was indeed a unique and interesting
event, sending us home with much food for thought!
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