Arts 2019, 8, 14
6 of 16
Journalists have preconceived ideas that they want to include in their articles. However,
musicians do not necessarily want to get involved politically, sometimes they do not want to
hear about politics anymore: their commitment is in music.27
This exclusive commitment in music was confirmed by Tammam Ramadan, a musician in
the project:
On stage, we break down [religious, linguistic] barriers, while there are wars at these borders.
[ . . . ] It costs nothing, it’s the cheapest solution. I hope we can replace wars with music,
because it’s more effective.28
However, tensions were palpable during the months preceding the CD release. Some musicians
left the project because it did not meet their musical and professional expectations. The choices that
the production team had to make concerning the layout of the album and its cover (Figure 2) raised
questions of representation: the cover picture did not represent the whole band, and an imbalance
was felt in the distribution of the tunes—some musicians would have liked to play on more tunes for
instance.29 In the end, the musicians hardly identified themselves with the final product.
Arts 2019, 8, x FOR PEER REVIEW
7 of 17
Figure 2.
2. The
cover of
of the
the album
album shows
shows the
the Tibetan
Tibetan singer
singer Dolma
Dolma Renqingi.
Renqingi. Amerli,
of the
the
Figure
The cover
Amerli, the
the title
title of
CD, refers
Telemans,
Desiree
dede
Winter
& Muziekpublique
(used
by
CD,
refers to
to an
an Iraqi
Iraqicity.
city. Credits:
Credits:Dieter
Dieter
Telemans,
Desiree
Winter
& Muziekpublique
(used
permission).
by
permission).
3.2. From
Song Compilation
to Stage in
Performance
The album’s
release concert
Brussels, on 13 May 2016 in the theatre Molière, the home of
Muziekpublique, was crowded with world music aficionados,
curious individuals, and several
The band was quickly asked to give performances30, and musicians were enthusiastic to play
associations supporting migrants, who came with groups of their recipients.
some more concerts together. For technical and financial reasons, the band had to be reduced to ten
musicians:31 the choices, made in a logic of scenic production, focused on the variety of profiles and
repertoires, on the musicians’ ability to play together as well as on their desire to get involved in a
27 Interview with Lynn Dewitte, Brussels, 30 August 2018 [our translation].
long-term professional project in Belgium. While the band included musicians of various
28 Interview with Tammam Ramadan, Brussels, 30 August 2018 [our translation].
29
nationalities,
several
requests
concerned
of Syrians”
in relation
to recent
arrivals
of refugees
Which was not
feasible:
for various
reasons, at ano“band
time could
all the musicians
get together.
Similarly,
the photo
sessions
32
werecountry.
not attended
by all artists.
in the