Sama International Choral Festival 2023: Giving life to the infinite rhythm of peace

Prof. Andre de Quadros 

By Surya Vishwa

Stringing together cords of love and attempting to break barriers, preconceived notions or misconceptions that prevent understanding between human beings. 

This above sentence describes an effort at weaving together a vibrant universal tapestry of cultures through the cascading of music; the objective of the Sama International Choral festival which is performing in Sri Lanka this week.

This unique music festival directed by Prof. Andre De Quadros of Boston, USA, is a pioneering initiative of Haadia Galely of Sri Lanka who together with other like-minded musicians and patrons of music across the world created the Muslim Choral Ensemble which has performed since 2019. A speciality of the Sama International Choral Festival 2023, is the integration of four international choirs; the Manado State University Choir of Indonesia, Voices 21C (USA), World Muslim Choral Ensemble and the Muslim Choral Ensemble of Sri Lanka.

The Manado State University Choir (MSUC) from the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi is a mixed voice based chamber choir of approximately 24 singers acclaimed for their vocal versatility , performing a wide range of repertoire of indigenous and modern renditions of music from Indonesian as well as diverse other cultures. Under the direction of Prof. Andre De Quadros, the choir has attained accolades and awards globally for their excellence in performance which was witnessed in Sri Lanka last week.

Voices 21C is an artistic collective using music and performance to promote human rights, justice and empathy, dedicated to creating global holistic human affinity through music. Voices 21C aligns itself with the great American voices of compassion, love and empathy, seeking to combine high technical proficiency towards the ideal of world peace and understanding. Voices 21C has made its mark in the world for engaging deeply with singers and musicians of Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Iran through long sustained inter-personal engagements.  

The Muslim Choral Ensemble was founded in 2017 by Haadia Galely (Executive Director) and Prof. Andre De Quadros, supported by vocal coach Manoj Sanjeewa. The choir is one of its kind based in the city of Colombo that is inspired by spiritual recitations practiced through the ages in the Islamic world. The initiative is aimed at creating a platform for Muslim singers to present Islamic spiritual tradition through the realm of music as an inclusive effort of both male and females as well as those of other faiths and cultures within Sri Lanka as well as internationally. The Islamic spiritual performances by the choir so far in diverse languages, include the Zikr, Nashids, Qasidas and Qawwali. 

These choirs are vibrantly brought together to be part of the Sama International Choral Festival, administered by an organising committee of mainly youth volunteers from Sri Lanka, and in collaboration with institutions, philanthropists, business entities and professionals including those such as the Akbar Brothers group, Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, Hanif Yusuf, Ishq Colombo, Shangri-La Colombo, Ashan Perera, Road to Rights and Daily FT.

The Sama International Choral festival 2023 was launched in Sri Lanka on 23 July morning, with an initial informal drumming focused performance and interaction with the students and academics of the University of Visual and Performing Arts. The special guests at the university interaction were Alireza Shahini, the Iranian Drumming professional of especially the ancient traditional drum of Iranian culture, the Tombak and also the immensely popular Daf, and Sri Lankan percussionist, Rakitha Ruwan Wickramaratne, founder and leader of Naadro. Facilitated by senior academics of dance and performance, Prof. Saman Kumaratunga, Prof. Sarath Premarathne and Prof. P.M.K. Bandara, the duo interacted with over 100 students of the Faculty of Performing Arts and academics associated with drumming and performance exchanging notes on similarities and differences in the tradition of drumming in Iran and Sri Lanka.

On the evening of 23 July, a special media centred interactive performance was held at the Ishq Colombo and on 24 evening a reverence focused performance – An’ Nur (The Light) was held at the Akbar Brothers headquarters in Colombo. The Concert themed, Voices for Peace was held on 25 at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo. Music and singing from the Indonesian, European and Islamic Sufi culture was carried out. The assistant directors of music for the Voices for Peace concert were Soundarie David Rodrigo, Francis D’ Almeida and Manoj Sanjeewa.

The visiting musicians include a large team from Boston in the US, from Indonesia, Iran and India will perform their grand finale at the Lionel Wendt theatre on 30 July at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance.

Among the veteran global musicians featured by the Sama International Choral festival 2023 in Sri Lanka are two young performers, Shahid Shabaaz and Nabeel Khan.

Shahid Shabaaz brings the Islamic and South Asian music tradition alive with their Sufi and Sarangi focused rendition respectively. Shahid, hailing from Karnataka is the Voice of UAE winner since 2015, who has created a niche for himself as a singer associated with the mystical Sufi tradition of Islam. He has been the winner of the Mysore Dasara Singing Festival. Shahid is one of the founding members of the Muslim Choral Ensemble and a member of the Choral World Music Festival.

Nabeel Khan, grandson of the legend of Sarangi Padma Bhushan Awardee, Ustad Sabri Khan Saheb, is the youngest established Sarangi artist, composer, singer and songwriter from Delhi specialising in Indian classical instruments and is of the eight generation of Sarangi artists in his family.

As the Sama International Choral Festival performs this week in Sri Lanka, it brings this country new hope for the reign of lasting and sustainable peace that fuses together collective identities with the supreme message of peace which compliments the overarching Buddhist identity of Sri Lanka which equals non-violence to humans, animals and nature.

The Sama International Choral Festival and its associated activities with the music world holds the potential to showcase Sri Lanka to the world as the festival organisers proceed to conceptualise its programs for the rest of the months.

“This is my passion. I have been creating music festivals in Sri Lanka for quite some time and since 2019 I redoubled my efforts to showcase music for peace, especially with the Muslim Choral Ensemble of Sri Lanka,” Haadia Galely explained. This year she has committed herself to this cause despite a personal family tragedy. She shared with this writer that despite finding it emotionally challenging, working towards a higher goal for world peace helped her to revisit her spiritual quest to continue her duty towards linking humanity.

Using music globally to be a voice for the voiceless, Prof. Andre De Quadros who originally hails from Goa, India had initially in his youth graduated in economics moving on to specialise in violin and being head of department of music direction/performance at the Monash University in Australia and currently affiliated with Boston University in the United States.

“The word Sama in Islamic linguistics means ‘listen.’ This word has a very deep significance. It is when you listen with your heart to another person that you truly be present in that moment of interaction. This is the seed of understanding, humility and learning. This is the beginning of peace,” stated Prof. Quadros.

Using music to break stereotypes about different communities, Prof. Andre De Quadros uses music for its healing impact, working often with the marginalised, the tortured and the forgotten.

Among the large number of young people supporting and leading the Sama International Choral Festival by volunteering their time is Ashan Perera, an internationally recognised youth leader who nearly three decades ago created at age eight, the concept of united children, promoting children focused leadership and unity, modelled after Sri Lankan village based children’s societies.

“Apart from the music, the organising of the event over the past few years has brought together vibrant minds of Sri Lanka who are a pillar of strength of this festival,” explained Aqeela who oversaw and managed the coordination of the festival related events.

The tickets for the concluding performance of the Sama International Choral Festival can be obtained from Lionel Wendt. For more information please contact Ashan Perera on 071 949 6557.

Note: A follow up coverage on the festival and the philosophy it stands for, will be published in the special 30 July International Friendship Day commemorative edition of the Weekend FT’s Harmony page this Saturday, 29 July. 

Pix by Lasantha Kumara and Sameera Wijesinghe