Iraqi Visionary Inspires with Message of Hope
Upper School students flocked excitedly to Ridgway last week to hear how Zuhal Sultan founded the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq (NYOI) when she was just about their age (17). “Everyone seemed very engaged and alert [and thought] it was one of the best required talks yet,” observed Katie, an Upper School senior. A day earlier, students at Principia College were equally enthusiastic about—and inspired by—Sultan’s message of hope.
Sultan was named 2015 Visionary of the Year by the Euphrates Institute, founded by Principia College alum Janessa Gans Wilder (C’98) to foster peace and understanding between the West and Middle East. The Institute and its chapters around the country, including the one at Principia College, helped organize Sultan’s U.S. tour, which included talks at the United Nations on the International Day of Peace; the National Defense Institute in Washington, DC; Stanford University (where she spoke in both English and Arabic); and a talk and piano concert in the Seattle area. (Sultan also performed at the College.)
Sowing peace through music
Sultan’s peace-building mission stands in stark contrast to the aims of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) and other extremists. “What IS is trying to do is recruit young people to become violent, to spread hate,” Sultan said. “What the NYOI is trying to do is recruit young people to spread music, to spread culture, to learn about and understand each other.”
Growing up in a family of educators in Baghdad during the rule of the late Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, Sultan learned to play the piano as a child and attended a school focused on the arts, where she received both musical and academic training. When she was 11, the U.S. invaded Iraq, and violence flared throughout the country—between Iraqis and Americans and among Iraqis themselves. One morning, soon after the invasion, Sultan arrived at her school to find that it had been bombed and looted and that most of her teachers had fled. (Musicians and artists were threatened by the escalation of religious fundamentalism.)
Sultan began attending another school, but was often stopped at gunpoint on her way to and from classes. Soon it became dangerous even to be seen in public carrying a musical instrument, so she turned to YouTube to continue her piano training and to learn more about Western classical music. But, as she told the audience, “It was a bleak existence for most of the people; it was hard to have hope for the future—especially as a teenager.”
Turning inspiration into reality (with help from the Internet)
Realizing that “if there is no hope, there is no motivation for any improvement,” Sultan decided to take action, drawing inspiration from her love of music. “Why not bring young people together through music?” she thought to herself. With no resources to speak of, she took her idea of starting a youth orchestra to the Internet—looking for musicians, a conductor, and financial help.
After reading about her quest, Scottish conductor Paul MacAlindin offered to train and lead the orchestra. Together, they auditioned musicians from all over Iraq via YouTube videos. With worldwide support and, eventually, help from a local Iraqi politician, they were able to bring together about 30 musicians for a three-week workshop.
This first session was very difficult, Sultan recalls—the musicians had limited skills and poor-quality instruments, they spoke different languages, there was suspicion among the different sects and ethnic groups . . . But finally, the joy of music and dance led to a breakthrough, and the group began working as a team. Sultan, MacAlindin, and their supporters cobbled together funding for another workshop several months later.
Soon thereafter, the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq was invited to perform in Europe! In 2011, the musicians played Beethoven’s music in the composer’s birthplace (Bonn, Germany), one of Sultan’s favorite memories of the NYOI. The orchestra then performed in France as well as in the UK, receiving great support for their mission of peace through music. The NYOI held its annual 2012 three-week course in Edinburgh, Scotland, where its members performed with musicians from the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra. Their plan to organize a tour to the United States had to be put on hold, as the rise of IS and accompanying violence prevented musicians from obtaining the requisite visas.
Now living and studying in Glasgow, Scotland, Sultan is still hopeful that she can get the orchestra to the United States to share its message and example of hope and peace through music.