Six dozen musicians from 14 nationalities, many of them immigrants to Portugal, gather at Gulbenkian for a peace concert because “music is the only place where there is no conflict” and demands harmony.
Cellist Varoujan Bartikian has been in Portugal for 35 years and is one of 63 musicians in the orchestra that gathered for a unique concert for peace on December 7, also to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Music is the only place where there are no conflicts, we must live in harmony. This is a common language,” Varuzhan Bartikyan told Luse.
In addition to the musicians, the show features a choir of four dozen members and four soloists under the direction of maestro Pedro Amaral, who conceived the concert and made a proposal to the former High Commission for Migration, replaced by the current one. Agency for Migration and Refugee Integration.
“Music and art in general cannot change the world, but they can help through the power of their example,” and in this “orchestra we have musicians from everywhere, hand in hand, playing for the common good, coming from undesirable nationalities,” Pedro Amaral told Lusa on the sidelines of the show’s first rehearsal.
They are “great musicians and I’m very lucky. I have an orchestra consisting of musicians of different nationalities, as well as musicians of different age groups,” and this is “a very important connection between generations,” the maestro said.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is “fundamental today,” and “as the world burns, we prove that music can unite, art in general can unite, what politics, divisions, conflicts – sometimes historical, sometimes after so many years – they divide,” – the maestro explained, believing that for peace to triumph, the population must be more vigilant and more demanding.
“Celebrating human rights is certainly something we should do every day, but especially in times of such intense war,” he said.
Having lived in Portugal since she was eight years old from Ukraine, Lisa Waldman trained in Portugal and is a teacher and freelance guitarist.
Together with him, Russian music sounds at the concert and there is no politics on the stage, only music. For peace.
“There are no barriers here, just freedom” and “we can live with each other, we can touch each other, we can express thoughts without words, and I think that’s all we need right now,” Lisa Waldman said.
It’s a concert that “ultimately reaches a lot of people, embraces everyone” and aims to connect “in a much more intimate way, touching people’s hearts,” the young woman added.
Varuzhan Bartikyan agrees and considers these moments oases of peace and tranquility.
“We have the honor of playing this wonderful music when other worlds are terrible, for example, the war between Russia and Ukraine or between Israel and Palestine,” explained the Armenian musician.
In his opinion, “art and culture can make a greater revolution than politics,” so the concert in the Gulbenkian Hall will be another “proof that all people, all nations are equal and can unite to play music.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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