Brussels Philharmonic to perform Kurdish folk music

BRUSSELS - Kurdish musicians are teaming up with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra for a performance that blends Kurdish musical pieces into the symphony.

“We have worked on integrating Kurdish music into a form of orchestral symphony so it finds itself in a higher status,” violinist Alan Arif told Rudaw.

The orchestra will perform on Saturday.

The collaboration has made Kurdish music more meaningful, according to Sherko Kaniwar, master daf player and teacher of music. “That one could present Kurdish music on such a high level and introduce it to the world, to create a friendship with Kurdish music,” he said.

The piece being performed was composed by Qutaiba al-Nuaimi.

“The idea came to me because the theme of this year's orchestra is ‘East meets West’ and that is why I wanted to pick some Kurdish Iraqi music and re-write them as modern orchestra and present them at the orchestra with the help of the famous Iraqi violinist Alan Arif and percussionist Sherko [Kaniwar] as well as the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra,” he said.