Music and friendship within the Crusader walls: with the Telemaco String Quartet in the Holy Land
Mozart resounds in Sebastia’s Al Badd crusade room thanks to the guys from the Telemaco quartet, four young chamber music talents who study or have just finished studying at the Milan Conservatory. Marco Mauro, Chiara, Lorenzo and Stefano performed two evenings of music in front of an audience of participating and interested Palestinians and internationals. The concerts of 6 and 8 February are part of the Foundation Assistance International project which supports cultural activities for the promotion of tourism in the Mosaic Center and Pro Terra Sancta in the localities of Jericho, Sebastia and Betania.
The young boys, three of them are just 20 years old, are animated by a strong passion. They have a clear idea of what future they would like to see realized and they work hard every day to improve themselves. “Making chamber music has an educational value – explains Stefano, the largest of the group -” to be successful you need to have the same overall vision “. And Lorenzo adds: “It means trying all together as much as possible, even every day”. For this reason, they tell us, friendship and passion are fundamental pillars for the formation of a winning string quartet. Their reference model is certainly the Cremona Quartet, one of the most famous quartets in the world, from which they learn by attending the Stauffer Academy in Cremona.
For the quartet it is their first international experience. They prepared the repertoire with great care and attention and said they were very satisfied with the response they received from the public.
Mozart, Mendelson and classical music in general are not “on the ropes” of the Palestinian who listens to local music in which oriental sounds from Syria, Lebanon or Egypt predominate. Despite this, the two performances have had great success and have been highly appreciated. The curiosity of listening to something different has attracted a large audience. Sebastia’s children, attracted by unknown sounds and instruments since the rehearsal, listened to the rapid movements of the strings in this universal language which is music.
A great success also for Iyaya, Shadi and the other guys from the Mosaic Center who since January have been in charge for the project of organizing events in the crusade hall of Al-Badd, recently restored. For two evenings a month they give life to events, concerts, shows for the whole population. Among the proposals made so far: a clown show for children, the screening of “Budrus” a 2009 film that narrates the non-violent demonstrations of a Palestinian village, and a concert by oud, lute, the instrument type of Palestinian music.
On Friday 7 February, the children of the Telemaco Quartet met with the leaders of the Magnificat Institute in Jerusalem, a reality supported by the Association pro Terra Sancta that teaches music to Christian, Muslim and Jewish children. Thanks to music, a message of peace that, returning from this trip, even young musicians will keep.