A happiness like no other


Tomos Brangwyn

Photo: Tomos Brangwyn

chiaarkan

Chia and Arkan

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IT is not easy to be a musician in my country. I play double bass in a duo with my friend, Arkan, who plays santur. He is very talented and wants to do new things with music. This is hard for some people, but it is very important. Our country has such serious music. People listen with angry faces that have no joy.  

     We want to help people laugh by using our instruments in new ways. For example, I will play my double bass like a guitar. Arkan will play jazz on the santur. It is hard to do a concert like this; maybe even too hard. But we will try because it is so important for our people to have joy. We already had one concert. The music made people happy, and I am happy when I play this music. It is a happiness like no other.  We think that if Mozart could see how we will play his music, he would smile. Of course, it is important to find balance. We will not stop playing serious music. But we think it is normal in life to have things that are both serious and fun. You can’t be funny all the time. That, too, is not normal. But no one really wants music without joy—just like you would not want English lessons that have no joy. —Chia

Chia is from Iraqi-Kurdistan. His native language is Kurdish. He is a new student of English hoping to study music in America.


This video is a wonderful example of what Chia is writing about. In this performance Chia is performing with the trio, Kurdish Trio Project. 

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