This past week, IB music students had a fantastic experience with guest artist Joseph Makdisie, a Syrian refugee living here in Luxembourg. A big thanks goes out to Pat Ebhohimen for putting us in contact. Pat met Joseph through her volunteer work with refugees, and after she heard him perform some of his compositions, she knew he had much to offer our students here at ISL.
 
Joseph’s work with the IB music class was inspiring. Joseph began his presentation by performing a composition he wrote in the first few days of his arrival in Luxembourg. The song is entitled “Luxembourg is Love” and depicts the way he feels about Luxembourg. The song is in English.
 
Students stayed through during lunch to have more time with him. Richard Penn in particular conducted ethnomusicological research, collecting Syrian folk melodies which Joseph shared with him, and Richard will be incorporating these into one of his IB pieces.
 
Richard is actually registered for a composition competition in which he needs to compose an arrangement of the Luxembourg national anthem. Richard will be writing a programmatic piece, depicting the journey of a Syrian refugee who comes to Luxembourg, and his piece will include Syrian melodies that are combined with the Luxembourg anthem, representing a refugee’s not-forgotten homeland combined with their new “home” and all the emotions which go along with that experience. Richard is excited because Joseph has volunteered to help Richard as he moves forward with his piece, acting as a primary source of information.
 
Joseph used to conduct a 100-member choir in Latakia, Syria. In addition to being a conductor, he is a pianist and composer, although he is now finishing a degree in civil engineering here in Luxembourg. In addition to sharing his musical background with students, Joseph contextualized his experiences in war-torn Syria, making the journey from Syria to Luxembourg over the course of a month, travelling by night to safely flee Syria, making the journey from Turkey to the Greek island of Chios by raft at night, etc., all the way to Luxembourg. It was a very powerful and informative experience for the students.
 
Further, Joseph is keen to share his experience with more students at ISL, so if you are interested, we can put you in contact to organize something for your classes.