{"id":6229,"date":"2010-04-25T01:40:43","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T01:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=6229"},"modified":"2010-04-25T17:07:22","modified_gmt":"2010-04-25T17:07:22","slug":"syrias-national-day-celebrations-at-the-library-of-congress-by-ford-prefect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/syrias-national-day-celebrations-at-the-library-of-congress-by-ford-prefect\/","title":{"rendered":"“Syria’s National Day Celebrations at the Library of Congress”, by Ford Prefect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syria’s National Day Celebrations at the Library of Congress<\/strong>
\nWritten by Ford Prefect for Syria Comment<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.\u201d<\/em>
\nJalal Ad-Din Rumi. (<\/strong>Listen to this poem, translated by Coleman Barks, here<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And that \u201cfield\u201d was the magnificent Library of Congress, which on April 23 played host to celebrations for the National Day (April 17) of Syria – a lovely evening of Syrian culture, architecture and music, organized by the Syrian embassy and overseen by Rafif Moustafa, the ambassador’s wife who planned every aspect with great care.<\/p>\n

The event attracted over 400 attendees, including members of Congress, senior Hill staffers, Administration officials, ambassadors and diplomats, academics, journalists, members of the Syrian American community, and guests.<\/p>\n

\"Syrian<\/p>\n

Politics and rhetoric aside, the evening focused on Syria<\/a>\u2019s breathtaking architecture against the backdrop of the premiere venue in the US capital. In a refreshing change of pace from recent allegations toward Syria and frequent discussions over the country and its politics, guests at the event mingled and chatted about Syrian arts and culture over cocktails and delicious Middle Eastern bites.<\/p>\n

The evening began with opening remarks from Dr. James Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress. Dr. Billington highlighted Syria\u2019s rich heritage and its important role as a cultural pacesetter throughout history. Dr. Nasser Rabbat, professor of Islamic architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), then took the audience on a pictorial journey through Syria\u2019s spectacular history of architecture, from Aram to Phoenicia, from Seleukia to Roman Syria, and from the Arab and Islamic bilad-al sham to Syria today. Perhaps most surprising to learn was that for over 4,000 years, Syrian builders have synthesized past and contemporary traditions to arrive at an architecture that is unique, specific and highly identifiable to that part of the world.<\/p>\n

Following the presentations, rising Syrian star Kinan Azmeh and soprano singer Dima Orsho took the audience on a musical journey that started with a haunting piece hailed as the oldest song in the world. In the early 1950s, clay tablets dating back to 1400 B.C.<\/a> containing text from the \u201cHurrian\u201d language were discovered in the ancient city of Ugarit, known today as Ras Shamra, Syria. These clay tablets contained a complete hymn of words and music to the moon god\u2019s wife, Nikal. Here is a modern interpretation<\/a> of that piece by Syrian American Pianist Malek Jandali.<\/p>\n

\"Syrian<\/p>\n

Kinan and Orsho both exemplify emerging Syrian talent. The New York Times has hailed Azmeh as a \u201cvirtuoso\u201d and the LA Times has called him \u201cengagingly flamboyant.\u201d Kinan is a graduate of New York\u2019s prestigious Juilliard School and Damascus University\u2019s School of Electrical Engineering and is currently finishing his doctoral work at the City University of New York. Orsho, born in Damascus, received her Masters of Music degree in opera performance from The Boston Conservatory and has appeared in operas and concert halls all over the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Their performance was a treat for audiences saturated with today\u2019s synthesized music. Listening to music aged more than 3,400 years was not only satisfying but also unique and stunning to the ear. Their masterful blending of oriental rhythms with modern \u201cjazzy\u201d melodies has earned this duo worldwide respect and recognition in the field of music. The audience showed their appreciation with an enthusiastic standing ovation!<\/p>\n

Finally, as the night came to a close, I reveled in the success of this cultural event in bringing people together beyond the ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing. Just a few steps away from the U.S. Capitol building, people came together to admire the unique place Syria holds as a contributor to history and culture.<\/p>\n

Written by Ford Prefect for Syria Comment<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Syria’s National Day Celebrations at the Library of Congress Written by Ford Prefect for Syria Comment \u201cOut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.\u201d Jalal Ad-Din Rumi. (Listen to this poem, translated by Coleman Barks, here) And that \u201cfield\u201d was the magnificent Library of Congress, which on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52,17,3,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alex","category-for-rels","category-soc-cult","category-us"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Syria's National Day Celebrations at the Library of Congress", by Ford Prefect - Syria Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/syrias-national-day-celebrations-at-the-library-of-congress-by-ford-prefect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Syria's National Day Celebrations at the Library of Congress", by Ford Prefect - Syria Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Syria’s National Day Celebrations at the Library of Congress Written by Ford Prefect for Syria Comment \u201cOut beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is a field. 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