The Sounding Jerusalem Festival concludes with a concert of oriental instrumental and vocal music directed by Mahran Morab. Vocal soloist - Lamar Mireb

 

Mahran Moreb (Courtesy Sounding Jerusalem 2023)

Lamar Mireb (Courtesy Sounding Jerusalem 2023)

The evening of August 10th was balmy, ideal for a zesty concert in the medieval courtyard of the Lutheran Redeemer Church in Jerusalem's Old City, a magical venue offering fine acoustics and enhanced by lush foliage descending from the upper balconies. The event was the final concert of the 2023 Sounding Jerusalem Festival. The Right Rev. Joachim Lenz (Redeemer Church) opened the event, mentioning the Redeemer Church as being in the heart of the Jerusalem soundscape, the sounds heard there evident of the three religions represented in close proximity. He referred to the concert of local oriental music as "music of the land". Sounding Jerusalem founder and director Austrian 'cellist Erich Oskar Hutter spoke of the intensive week of festival concerts as having been a "beautiful journey", creating a "musical family" and always attracting a good mix of people. He stressed the importance of the discussions following each concert. Huetter thanked all the festival's partners, both local and from overseas. He alluded to the various concert venues of this year's festival as "special, hidden, spiritual places", settings that give rise to magical moments.

 

The closing concert mostly comprised works by composer/arranger and educationalist Mahran Moreb - instrumental pieces, classical Arabic songs, with some influence of Iraqi and Syrian folklore and the occasional reference to western-style music - performed by 13 musicians, including a small chorus and the ensemble of instrumentalists playing bowed-, plucked-, percussion instruments and keyboard, with vocalist Lamar Mireb presenting the songs. All on stage were led by Mahran Moreb himself on qanun (a type of large zither with a thin trapezoidal soundboard, having a distinctive, melodramatic timbre). Explaining the program, Moreb (with double bass player Eleni Mustaklem translating his words into English) spoke of the concert as being a "musical journey", many of the songs speaking of love (and its complications) and the fleeting nature of life.    

 

With no further ado, the ensemble launched into the music, sweeping the audience into its candid, highly-coloured, robustly-textured and forthright presentation, its accessible and sensitively-shaped melodic content and its compelling, foot-tapping rhythms. Her voice stable, powerful and well anchored, Lamar Mireb's singing of the songs was convincing and passionate. Although we non-Arabic speakers were at a slight disadvantage as to the content of the vocal material, Mireb, supported by the small chorus of singers, conveyed the emotions to the audience. Under the watchful eye of Moreb, the artists presented us with an evening of highly polished performance. Most delectable were the several instrumental solos performed by ensemble members and by Moreb himself, these wonderful moments highlighting the individual players' fine musicianship, virtuosity and invention.

 

Sounding Jerusalem 2023 signed out on a high note!

Photo: Peter Tilley