Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. The INSO plays primarily classical European music, as well as original compositions based on Iraqi and Arab instruments and music.
History
The orchestra began as the Baghdad Symphony Orchestra in 1944 by Albert Chaffoo. It performed for approximately two years and was disbanded after Albert Chaffoo left Iraq and returned to London to continue his musical career. Many members of the former Baghdad Symphony later formed the future Iraqi National Symphony The orchestra became officially known as the Iraqi National Symphony in 1959 when it began to receive a salary from the government. The INSO was abolished by the Iraqi Minister of Culture in 1962 and rehearsed underground until 1970, when it was re-established. Over the next ten years, the orchestra toured Russia, Algeria, Lebanon and Jordan , and hosted guest musicians and conductors from many countries. But during the 1980s and 1990s many musicians, plagued by financial hardship, left the country to pursue opportunities elsewhere. Although its home theater was burned by looters during the April 2003 invasion of Baghdad2003 invasion of Baghdad
The Battle of Baghdad also known as the Fall of Baghdad was a military invasion of Baghdad that took place in early April 2003, as part of the invasion of Iraq....
, the orchestra performed a concert in Baghdad in June 2003 and subsequently traveled through northern Iraq, recruiting new members. Representative of the diversity of Iraq, its 90+ musicians now include Shi'a, Sunni, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrian Christians, and Turkomen, as well as six women, one of whom is the first American woman to join in the history of the orchestra.
In December 2003, the orchestra performed a joint concert with the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
at the Kennedy Center
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington, co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. President and Mrs. George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
attended the concert, and Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
introduced the orchestra.
The INSO is currently managed and conducted by Karim Wasfi.
External links
- CultureConnect photographs from the Kennedy Center concert
- National Symphony/Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra Joint Concert, December 9, 2003, Matthew Guilford, member of the U.S. National Symphony
- The Sweet, Sweet Sound of…What, Exactly?: The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra Goes to Washington, Anastasia Tsioulcas