Interview with Guest Curator Kinan Azmeh by Erik Higgins, Artistic Director (ehiggins@NebraskaMusicFest.org)
this interview has been edited for for clarity and brevity
Friendship is the Inspiration
Erik: Do you want to talk at all about your inspiration for putting together these artists and these pieces?
Kinan: Honestly, and it sounds weird to tell you this, but for me, friendship is actually at the base of all of this. Because when I got invited by you to be a guest co-curator, the idea is absolutely amazing because it’s an incredible sign of trust – another level of trust. Lots of the time when you meet artists in your life and you invite them to play in your festival, you’re trusting their art.
But then when you trust them about their taste, which is like, “OK, would you like to bring other artists to this festival?” You’re going to not only trust their artistry, but also their taste and their friendships too. And I think when I thought about artists for the festival, I think the common denominator when I look at the program is friendship. I mean, most artists are really dear friends of mine. And I don’t mean that in a way like, “oh, yeah, here’s that curator who brought his friends to the festival”. It’s not that. These are friends also because they are the artists who inspired me to be the musician I am.
And by extension, I know they can inspire so many other people. I want other people to have that luxury of discovering their music, their personalities and their own connections too, especially those who are bringing projects bigger than just themselves. Friendship is really at the heart of all of this.
“I like them to have Exciting Hobbies”
Kinan: Another theme that becomes apparent in this program and in my own life, has to do with artists who do several things; not only as artists, but also as humans. I like them to have exciting hobbies. I like people who think not in a linear way about life, but people who think in parallel, people who hold contrasting professions. I’ve always been drawn to people who do several things at once. So multifaceted artmaking, is, I think, what is common thread between all these people who are on the program this year.
Rooted in Tradition without being Limited by Tradition
Kinan: The roster this year is all composers, performers, improvisers, and people who are deeply rooted in many traditions without being limited by any of these traditions. For me, that’s an important point. Many of the artists on the program, if not all maybe, have a solid, even very solid training in classical music. But they are also people who have discovered other classical, quote-unquote, traditions from different cultures too. And they’re approaching these traditions by the same seriousness that one would approach the Western classical music repertoire. The result is actually – simply – exciting music.
And that’s the other common denominator, with all the music that is presented in this festival: It’s music that I’m willing to listen to on loop for days. And it’s exciting for me.
It’s Like a Big Family
Bringing these artists to this festival – it’s like I’m bringing my loved ones to meet my family. I feel I’m part of the family in Nebraska because I’ve been involved in the Crossroads festival for a long time, and also with you personally, for many years, so it’s just natural to bring my loved ones to this family.
Erik: Well, we’re really looking forward to meeting everyone, too.
Kinan: During the creation of a festival, you get involved in listening to people’s work before they come, so by the time they come, you already know a lot about them – certainly more than what they know about you…
Erik: Yeah, I feel like I know them all pretty well already. It feels like meeting old friends, even with people I’ve never met personally before.
“Curating is a Wonderful Way to Dream”
Erik: Well, I have a bit of a fun question. This year, in addition to curating the Crossroads Festival, you’ve also guest curating the Morgenland Festival in Germany, which will take place starting at the end of June. Now that you’ve curated two festivals, are you ready to start your own festival?
Kinan: great question. Am I ready for my own festival? I don’t know. Because curating the festival the way I did it right now for both Morgenland and Crossroads – that’s the fun part of the work. I mean, you did the heavy lifting. Starting your own festival is not like showing up just as a guest curator: “oh yeah, I would like to bring this artist, that artist.” I mean, this is a dream situation to be invited as guest curator because somebody else lifted everything from the ground up. But at the same time, I would be lying to you if I told you I was not actually thinking about starting my own festival too.
But then when I look at how you guys are doing it and all the details that go into it…
Both laugh
Erik: Yeah, yeah, you need help. You can’t do it alone.
Kinan: I totally enjoyed doing this. That’s great. But what kind of program, and to imagine how the concept will go, is actually is a wonderful way to dream. So maybe that really is the answer.
Dinuk Wijeratne – Reconciling Different Worlds of Music
Erik: Are there any stories about any of the artists? Any anecdotes you’d like to share? You talked about friendship being the cornerstone of the programming, but are there any particular stories you’d like to share about any of them?
Kinan: One of the people that I’ve known the longest in this program is Dinuk (Wijeratne). Dinuk is a Sri-Lankan/Canadian composer and a pianist. I think maybe he’s one of my earliest friends in New York at Julliard where we were both doing our master’s degree. We bonded and I think we both felt the urge of doing something outside of the classical world.
One of our departing points was to improvise on Bartok’s Romanian dances, for example. We tried to create room for ourselves to play in a way outside of the academic training. And I think also we’re trying to reconcile the idea that, yes, he’s from Sri Lanka, I’m from Syria, and we feel at home, incredibly at home, playing the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, but that we have this added dimension, we have another home, too, that equally deserves to be paid attention to, with a rich musical heritage. And now, fast forward 25 years later, and I look at what we both do, and it’s exactly that.
Dawn of Midi
Kinan: I mean, I remember the first time I discovered Dawn of Midi was in a time maybe about some or eight years ago. It was pre-pandemic during the winter jazz fest in New York City. My friend Kyle, my guitarist, said, let’s go and check out this concert with Dawn of Midi.
We all go through a phase where we think we’ve heard all the good music that is out there. Right. You know? You get to a very particular place where you start to think everything is shit. And then you realize, hey, let’s take a step back. I remember how moved and how shocked I was to be totally blown away like that by Dawn of Midi and experience such a wide array of feelings. And I became their biggest fan.
So basically, my connection with them is not based on a longer friendship like some of the other artists, even though the pianist did become a great friend of mine, but I’m a huge fan of the group. And I don’t know if you remember, but maybe two years ago at Crossroads at a party, we just played their record, and a bunch of us were just tripping on it. Now, the fact that we’ve managed to bring them to the festival is incredible, and I think the festival also marks their comeback. They’ve taken a break from touring, so I’m proud that we managed to be the ones bringing them back to the stage after all these years.
The Most Meaningful Growth Isn’t in the Numbers
Erik: So, you know, you’ve been to the festival now from the beginning and many several years now. How do you feel like it has changed and developed in the last six years? This will be the sixth festival.
Kinan: It’s hard to see, I mean, it’s hard to understand or actually to witness really closely how your family members grow older, you know, because you also see them growing gradually and it’s hard to notice the change.
With the festival, I don’t actually see how it’s growing. The only thing I’m noticing is how much deeper of an impact it is making. You know, growth for me is not in size. I don’t know if this festival is growing in terms of how many artists you’re bringing and the audience size, but what I’m feeling is, over the last couple of times I’ve been there, that you’re growing roots: the festival is growing roots in the community. It’s serving, and also growing roots in hearts and minds of the artists that it’s hosting. And that growth is invisible, actually, on the outside.
But a festival that is created, that survives in a time like this, is incredible. It’s an incredible thing, actually, to witness. And I think since my first participation in the festival, I was having the time of my life and I just wanted to be invited back. Now, every year, I wait for the festival, whether I’m invited or not, I wait for it, and I’m happy to see it happen, and I’m happy to see how people talk about it today. And what I know for sure is how it’s changing little by little the community it’s serving by opening the opportunity for and inviting them into music that otherwise they wouldn’t have a chance to hear. So, for me, again, it’s an invisible kind of growth. But maybe that’s the most meaningful kind of growth.
Belonging and Home
Erik: Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to doing or seeing or eating or when you come back to Nebraska, now that you’ve been to Nebraska, how many, four or five times? Anything you’re most looking forward to?
Kinan: You know, when you go to a city for the first time it’s exciting – it’s a place you don’t know and it’s new. By the second time you can you know look deep into your heart and ask: “am I excited to go back?” And the answer in this case, of course, is yes. By the fifth or sixth time it just becomes absolutely natural to go back to Nebraska and I’m thinking that I’m at that stage right now where I feel like I cannot wait to go back to Nebraska and I’m not able to identify why exactly.
It’s All About the Hang
Kinan: It’s not like I want to go to a specific restaurant that for me is the thing I’m looking forward to– this will sound kind of shallow, so I’m going to try to make it sound as intellectual as possible– If you forget the music for a second, then yeah, the hang is as important as the music making.
What I mean by “the hang” is the conversations that happen after a group of strangers experience a concert together and for me, this is the thing that I remember the most about my time in Nebraska. It’s all these incredible conversations that I have with the volunteers of the festival, the people who are creating and directing the festival, the families of the people who involved with the festival and the audience at large.
Experiencing such a level of comfort with all of these people is really amazing and I think this goes back to you. You made a big festival out of a very personal approach you are the festival director who’s there at everything all the time and you’re making everybody feel like family. Everybody in your community also makes the same effort and I think that is what would draw me back every time. And also the delicious beer
Erik: Thank you, Kinan, that was really beautiful. Thank you.
Changing the Future for the Better
Erik: Any final thoughts you’d like to add?
Kinan: Yeah, I think also what grows me back to not only to Nebraska, but to this festival, specifically, besides the friendship and everything else is that, unfortunately, in the times we are in, supporting a festival like that is of utmost importance.
A time where the program we’re doing feels even daring now in a way it didn’t even just a year ago is alarming. So, I would do whatever it takes to make this festival as successful as possible and I feel like this is a life commitment for me too, you know? So regardless of how I’m involved with the festival over the coming few years for me, it’s very important that these kinds of festivals continue to thrive in spite of the world we live in.
Because I think it might not only change the future of this country, but also all the communities around the world that it touches.
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