The collaboration between Superar Switzerland and Sistema in Lombardia continues to go from strength to strength and, on the 8th April, c.330 children from Lugano, Zürich and Lombardy wowed some 1,300 theatre goers in a sold-out fundraising performance in Milan‘s Dal Verme.
Playing together for the third time, this was a special occasion for a number of reasons. Not only was it Superar Switzerland‘s first time in Italy, the trip also saw the teams intensify their cooperation with one another and express their solidarity with young Syrians in a heartfelt performance.
With each other in mind
Since Carlos Taffuri brought Superar Lugano and Sistema in Lombardia together in 2016, the children from Superar Zürich have joined them, with the three groups now having performed three concerts together: in Lugano, Zürich and Milan.
Furthermore, the level of the collaboration between these teams has grown and grown over the course of the last two years, with the concerts merely forming the more evident tip of the metaphorical iceberg.
With the children and the teams enjoying their time together and many more concerts planned, Superar Switzerland & Sistema in Lombardia have started to synchronise their musical programmes to increase the level of cooperation between their individual nuclei.
And, in April, the teams showed how much understanding and trust now exists between the children and organisations, arranging for 25 children from Zürich to stop over in Milan with the families of their Sistema in Lombardia counterparts.
We left Zürich full of anxiety. We were not only apprehensive about the concert on Sunday, but also about the home stays which awaited us. The children asked question after question on the train trip from Zürich to Baranzate! And, then, suddenly, there was no more time to think about it. After a very good ice cream, we went straight into an intense round of rehearsals. By the time the rehearsals had ended, almost all of the children had already met their companions and they went home with them free of their earlier concerns. Google Translate did have to come to our rescue on several occasions, but no-one felt uncomfortable. Some even felt that it was the most beautiful experience of the whole weekend and everyone really appreciated the hospitality of the hosting families!
Another highlight after the concert was certainly the tour around the centre of Milan, with the Teatro della Scala (seen from outside), the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the cathedral. With its many steps, the cathedral left us a bit tired, but it was very nice to see the city from above. And then, after a very short shopping tour and a delicious lunch, the coach was already waiting to take us home.
Monica (Mum and Coordinator of the Superar Suisse children), with Federica and Raffaele
It was exciting to share my routines, like breakfast and dinner, with a person who does not speak our language and who has different habits from me, but most of all it was nice to share the moments of preparation for the concert and to go on stage with people that I had not known before, but with whom we have now created something unique.
Adele Gasparini, 13 year old PYO Clarinettist
I hosted a Swiss boy called Uzeir. For me, it was an unforgettable experience, both for the concert and for having made a new friend and all this thanks to the Sistema project Song & Superar for Syria.
Michele De Nicolò and family
We hosted two very nice and friendly sisters from Zürich; violinists like me! It was nice to lend them my bedroom, to speak English and to sleep with my mother for two nights! I would like to do this again as soon as possible.
Mia Castellaneta, 10 year old PYO Violinist
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Watch the performance of Holzer-Rhomberg's Fiddle de dee
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Vento di Terra & Dritti al Centro
Yet, this concert wasn‘t just about solidarity amongst children in Switzerland & Lombardy. Much more, this was about all the Sistema teams involved coming together to raise funds to help Vento di Terra with the work it carries out for Syrian children and families looking to rebuild their lives in Jordan’s refugee camps.
Founded in 2006, Vento di Terra is active in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Albania and Italy, where it is involved in schemes which provide education, psycho-social support, bioclimatic architecture, business development and sustainable agriculture.
As part of its Dritti al Centro project in northern Jordan, Vento di Terra opened an educational centre in the Mafraq Governorate in 2015 and it is this establishment which the concert looked to help fund.
Vento di Terra’s centre in Mafraq looks to make up for the lack of formal schooling opportunties. Here, pupils of between six and 12 years of age are given the opportunity to attend daily lessons while, in many cases, also receiving counselling for post-traumatic stress disorders brought about by their experiences during the war. The specialised psychologists provided by the project offer the children an opportunity to come to terms with their experiences and the project also monitors the children’s health, advises their mothers on access to local services and encourages encounters between the refugees and the local Jordanian population.
Watch the video to find out more about the Dritti al Centro project
The concert
The concert itself was an afternoon of music, readings and reflections, which saw players from Superar Lugano and Superar Zürich share the stage with Sistema in Lombardia’s United Nuclei and the Pasquinelli Young Orchestra.
The musical programme was accessible and engaging, with lively and catchy songs, specially made arrangements, popular music and a repertoire of particular educational value for the children involved. Pieces by Bizet, Brahms, Musorgski, Offenbach, Rossini and Strauss were performed as well as Syrian Composer Nahel al Halabi’s new piece, Fino a quando..., which was especially written for the occasion.
Fino a quando…
Among the many true stories of Syrian children who have been exposed to seven years of war, the one I chose to tell through the universal language of music is that of Nayef, an 8-year-old who lives through a historical moment with his family, turning that day and those to follow, into a breathtaking tragedy.
One day in 2013, Nayef is playing not far from home. The war is in progress, but civilians have adapted their habits to this new reality, trying to lead a dignified life.
The sound of an airplane suddenly fills Nayef‘s ears, followed by a strange and imperceptible silence, which breaks into a deafening explosion, caused by a bomb launched without restraint into their neighborhood.
Nayef abandons his playing and begins to run tirelessly to his house, to check what has become of his home. But, after a few hundred metres, there it is, his house has been reduced to a pile of rubble. He does not waste a moment and begins to dig, to save his family, who knows maybe they are waiting for him to be helped. His little hands find the face of his father and he calls him, encourages him saying "Daddy I'm fine, I’m only hurt, but it's all right!", But, his father, helpless, does not respond. He tries to get a response from the other relatives who are there, but everyone seems to have undertaken the same journey as his father, a journey without return, a journey which in this life will no longer allow them to embrace one another.
After a few days, Nayef is interviewed by a local reporter. We can still watch this video online and see how Nayef tells the journalist: "I told dad that I was fine, that everything was fine, because dad is very sensitive", he explains. "I just want to understand why they're killing us", he adds. His dignity and his pride show the emotions of a man imprisoned in the body of a child, as he masks his pain and holds back his tears, with a bandaged head, a frowning look, his hands on his hips and a trembling voice.
Nayef can no longer be that eight-year-old boy who played in Aleppo during the war, Nayef will be forced to become a man sooner than his parents could imagine, understanding that life is often unjust and that there are not always answers to questions that a child should never have to ask.
How long until Nayef becomes one of the many, too many, innocents who live similar tragedies every day, in solitude, whose suffering explodes inside their hearts?
No child will ever really have to be alone if we can find the universal language to tell the world that we all, even in our darkest moments, can still find a light at the bottom of this tunnel called life, if only our troubles are shared, supported and transformed into music.
By Nahel al Halabi
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Furthermore, the performances were interspersed by image and word interventions by Guido De Monticelli and an exhibition of the drawings of the Syrian girl, Maria Barghouthi.
The leader of Sistema in Lombardia, Maria Majno, described the evening as:
A very impressive display of contrast between the complete concentration of the audience throughout two hours of uninterrupted music and talks and the brilliant demonstration of the musical progress of the children. The young musicians played all out for the occasion, even while being mesmerised by the images of their Syrian peers or the exemplary composure of Prof. Nabil Al Lao (Founder of the Damascus Opera, now living in Italy), who, with just a few numbers objectively conveyed the extent of the horror unfolding in Syria (the chemical attack in Douma having happened just a few hours before).
Watch the performance of Nahel Al Halabi's Fino a quando...
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Upcoming
Maria Majno ended her description of the evening with the promise that the warmth of attention that accompanied the launch events for L’Amata Siria would be continued over the coming months and the colloboration between Sistema in Lombardia and Superar Switzerland will also continue as we go into the summer.
With the onset of the school holidays, Sistema in Lombardia will be spending a lot of time meeting their new friends in Switzerland, with concerts together with their Superar Switzerland counterparts in Lugano on the 3rd June, in Zürich on the 1st July and as part of the Superar Switzerland & Friends Summer Camp at the Lucerne Festival on the 18th August.
We wish the children and their teams all the best and a fun and productive summer together!
Photos from the concert in Milan
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