(This post draws heavily upon the experiences of Paul Macalindin as described in his book Upbeat, which chronicles his inspiring work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.)
'At the same time in the next building, two Arabic experts from Paris took the 14 young musicians from Orchestre Francais des Jeunes through Iraq history, geopolitics and culture. For the last hour, I took some of the NYOI musicians with me after rehearsal to join in. There, transliterated on a whiteboard, stood Arabic text, which the experts coached us to sing to the tune of our old friend, Che Mali Wali. As the French students sang along, there, sitting under the open windows were Mohammed Adnan, Murad and Hassun playing the pained melody that had accompanied them through childhood. Totally in their bliss, a deep melancholy seeped out from within their Iraqi soul. This wasn't all. Naturally, the Kurds also needed to express their culture. Alan Kamil, our new concertmaster, struck up some traditional melodies on his violin with our wonderfully gifted new percussionist, Peshawa, imitating a zither accompaniment on the grand piano at the back of the room. Two intense musical traditions perfumed one small space filled with the finest of France and Iraq.'
From Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul Macalindin
The above quotation is slightly longer than usual. This is because it is a passage rich with insight about how best to begin understanding and appreciating new partners and collaborators. It emphasises the importance of creating a safe, supportive and creative space which encourages learning in 3 dimensions. These dimensions are thinking, doing and feeling:
- Providing facts encouraged the young French musicians to think about Iraq, its society, culture and politics.
- Doing something, in this case singing a traditional song, encouraged them to gain further insights about Iraqi music and culture. It also reinforced some of the learning from the rest of the session.
- Listening to the NYOI players perform some of their traditional melodies encouraged the French players to begin appreciating some of the artistic and emotional context of Iraqi culture and, very importantly, how Iraqis themselves responded and reacted to it. This laid the foundations upon which empathy could be built.
When learning about the people you are collaborating with, create a space within which you can begin to not only understand them but also experience something of what it is like to be them: find and think about the facts associated with them; do some of things they do; watch what they do; listen to what they say -- and seek to empathise with what they feel.
Allow the gradually developing 3 dimensional pictures you gain to inform the way you work with your partners and help shape your overall relationship with them.
Mysterious Lands and Beautiful Waters. This piece fuses my experiences of two landscapes: the Welsh (with its green and rocky mountains, crystal fresh rivers and lively waterfalls); and the Burmese (again with its mountains -- but this time ranged higher and wider and ever more distant).
(This post draws heavily upon the experiences of Paul Macalindin as described in his book Upbeat, which chronicles his inspiring work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.)
The position of women in Iraq was disempowering and inferior. If the NYOI was to be not only successful as an orchestra but also influential in improving the position of women, it needed - each and everyday of its existence - to take specific and positive action to challenge and change unhelpful attitudes and behaviours: it needed to form the habit of empowering the disempowered.
It did this by consistently doing some straightforward but extremely effective things. Here are four of them:
Challenging the status quo by creating everyday firsts and taking everyday risks
'Adam, our percussion tutor, had decided with me to choose Boran as Iraq's first female timpanist.'
'Tuqa, the only member of the NYOI to where a hijab, won over our cello tutor, Dave Edmonds, to the extent that he put her on the lead cello seat, much to her male counterpart, Hassam's disapproval.'
The first quotation shows that the first-time events you create to challenge the status quo do not have to be earth shatteringly significant to be effective: even though an everyday routine decision, the significance of the choice of timpanist would have been clear to the rest of the NYOI's players and the audiences for which the orchestra performed.
The second quotation is an example of being willing to risk disapproval by making routine decisions which challenge cultural expectations. Tuqa's male cello-playing colleague may have had his metaphorical nose put out of joint but, given the immediacy of the personal impact of the decision, the experience would have forced him to come to terms with the situation and (hopefully) begin to question his assumptions about the place and abilities of women.
Getting in early
'The auditorium filled to the brim with young girls in white headscarves, looking utterly adorable.
Uninhibited, they joined in Jonny's clapping and Dougie's singing games, their teachers watching on apprehensively from the back row. But when Dobbs came on and started his fairy story in Kurdish while plucking away at his base, even the teachers became enraptured. Music making in Iraq is basically a man's pursuit, girls are discouraged, and we so loved reaching out to these young souls.'
The above describes a concert given by the NYOI's tutors and players to an audience of young school girls. Gifting these young girls early memories of participating in musical activities (and demonstrating the positive effects of this activity to their teachers) planted the seed of an idea: that music making in Iraqi was not only for men but also women. With luck and nurturing, as the girls grow this seed will hopefully blossom into an enthusiasm for music making among women which will become easier for the male dominated musical establishment to embrace rather than ignore.
Noting missed opportunities and planning to create them in the future
'Meanwhile, Zuhal worked alongside Phia to run the course and receive mentoring, but I sensed her disappointment at not being able to play piano with the orchestra this year, as none of the compositions required it. I determined to fix this for 2011.'
Missing one opportunity does not mean that another cannot be created. Achieving this, however, needs an everyday awareness of what is happening and, more to the point, what is not happening. It also requires a willingness to plan.
Showing what is possible elsewhere
'In contrast, our rehearsals led by excellent tutors such as Angelia Cho or Ilona Bondar, as well as our visits abroad, empowered our female players to understand the prominent role of women in other cultures, and encouraged them to take a more leading role, where possible, in Iraq.'
This quotation describes how the NYOI showed its most significantly disempowered members, its women, what it was possible for them to achieve. Providing skilled and successful female tutors as role models and arranging visits to countries where women were encouraged and indeed expected to play prominent roles not only within music but also society generally, opened the NYOI's women's eyes to what it was possible for them to achieve with self belief and determination (and a culture which valued and supported them). As with the concert for the young girls, the seeds of possibility were being sown in young minds.
When seeking to empower your most disadvantaged partners and participants look for everyday opportunities to 'create a first'. Become accustomed to making decisions, big or seemingly small, which challenge the status quo and force people to adapt to and learn from new situations. Make a daily note of missed opportunities to involve and empower people and make specific plans to create similar opportunities in the future. Make sure that each and every day, at least in some small way, those that need to be reminded of what is possible are shown what is possible.
And sow the seeds of attitude changing ideas as early as possible.
You will then acquire the habit of empowering the disempowered.
(This post draws heavily upon the experiences of Paul Macalindin as described in his book Upbeat, which chronicles his inspiring work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.)
'The soloist was a woman, and a particularly beautiful one at that. Throughout the morning, she gave us her constant loving attention, making sure she always played to the orchestra, maintaining eye contact with each of them. The generosity which had led her to accept us, now shone out through the hall. After so much effort, we needed this. Sometimes, the players just couldn't react to her finely shaded interpretation and my accompaniment of her. So she changed it to work for them. I was impressed, and they were in awe.'
From Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul Macalindin
Much is said and written about how to lead collaboratively. Quite right too; it is and will continue to be an increasingly important and sought-after ability.
Sometimes, however, the more we think about and study something the less willing we become to acknowledge and value some simple truths about it.
Only when we see their power, in the moment, are we forced to turn and nod our heads in their direction.
The above quotation describes such a moment. The soloist is violin virtuoso Arabella Steinbacher and she is rehearsing Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the orchestra. 'Constant loving attention', 'always playing to the orchestra', 'maintaining eye contact with each of them': this is the moment to moment body language of not only a sensitive and collaborative musician but also a sensitive and collaborative leader. It radiates generosity and an enthusiasm for playing with rather than playing to: of working and performing with people rather than assuming and expecting that others are willing and able to follow the direction you wish to take.
The effect of Arabella Steinbacher's collaborative approach was two-fold: 1. it built a strong, warm and effective working relationship with the conductor and the orchestra; and 2, it laid the foundations for a performance which was less about straightforward compromise and more about uncovering complimentary strengths and subtly balancing and melding them.
The concert performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto was not likely to have been one that any of the performers had imagined beforehand; it was probably surprising and unique to the situation -- and stronger and more memorable as a result.
The lesson for anyone seeking to lead collaboratively is clear: be willing to live in the moment with your partners; through your moment-to-moment interactions with them, demonstrate your generosity of spirit and flexibility of action. Yes, keep your direction and purpose in mind but be open to and willing to embrace the variations your partners offer you. You will then most likely achieve your goals in unique and surprisingly effective ways.
(This post draws heavily upon the experiences of Paul Macalindin as described in his book Upbeat, which chronicles his inspiring work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.)
'I had no interest in playing to cultural sensitivities around the inferior position of women in Iraq, and readily looked at talented female as well as male tutors.'
From Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul Macalindin
Here, Paul is challenging the inferior position of women in Iraq head-on. This was essential to the success of the NYOI on at least three levels:
1. Encouraging women to play full parts within the NYOI, as not only tutors (as described above) but also players within the orchestra, ensured it had sufficient quality musicians to be viable and sustainable over a number of years.
2. Where their quality and ability merited it, encouraging and selecting women to take leading roles within the orchestra (as tutors, section leaders or managers of key support functions, etc.) created role models which showed that women could not only do these roles but sometimes do them better than their male colleagues. This contributed to achieving two interconnected NYOI goals: 1. providing all its young musicians, whatever their gender or backgrounds, with as many opportunities as possible to realise their potential; and 2. giving its players the confidence to go on and take leading roles within their country's wider artistic life.
3. Encouraging women in the above ways helped the NYOI tap into the skills, qualities and characteristics most usually unique to women. This is beautifully described by the following:
'Sabat's sister, Saween, a modest violinist, transfixed everyone with her incredible voice. Incanting deep Kurdish sorrow without a trace of Western vibrato the filigree butterflies emanating from her glottal twists and turns fluttered straight into our stomachs.'
From Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul Macalindin
The context of Iraq emphasises the importance of helping women play full and influential parts within not only collaborative projects which need their skills but also societies and cultures which, because of their attitude toward women, are at best only half resourced.
This is equally important within less extreme collaborative and cultural contexts. Look around at those working with you. Do you have enough partners to sustain your work? If not, does this coincide with an absence of women? Have women with the required qualities and abilities been given the same opportunities as men to take lead roles? Lastly, and perhaps most challengingly for those who think themselves sufficiently diversity aware, are you really identifying and taking advantage of the unique skills, qualities and characteristics of the women working with you?
(This post draws heavily upon the experiences of Paul Macalindin as described in his book Upbeat, which chronicles his inspiring work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.)
'The electricity cut out during our Skype call. This is why classical music is such a good art form for Iraq. You don't need to plug in a cello!'
'I decided we should also perform Beethoven's Prometheus Overture, a fitting start to as bold an act of creation as ourselves, and finish with Haydn's Symphony No 99. These two works lay at the heart of my pedagogy, as the musicians couldn't help but learn about their various roles as orchestral players, melodically, harmonically and rhythmically.'
'Haydn's Symphony No 99 was not only my best guess at what they could pull off in two weeks, but also an injection of humour. Haydn revels in his false starts and finishes, witty turns of phrase, pregnant daft pauses and great tunes.
From Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul Macalindin
The first quotation cuts to the chase in explaining why classical music was such a good vehicle for artistic collaboration within Iraq: it did not overly rely on technology and the energy needed to power it!
The second quotation emphasises how important it was to find and focus upon music which would help the young players of the NYOI develop the broad range of skills needed to collaborate musically and perform orchestral music well.
The third quotation illustrates the care needed in finding music which would maintain the young players motivation by being not only suitably challenging but also appropriately enjoyable to play.
The above makes it clear that amongst everything which has to be thought about and addressed whilst starting and developing any collaborative project, three questions must be given priority:
- What is the best vehicle or form of collaboration to meet the needs and limitations of your context?
- Which vehicles, projects or activities will help you and your partners develop the skills needed to perform effectively and attain the collaboration's goals?
- Which vehicles, projects or activities will achieve the right balance between being not only suitably challenging but also appropriately enjoyable (or at least fulfilling)?
The last question is often the least asked but can be the most important to answer, especially when encouraging people to do new and difficult tasks and achieve new and ambitious goals.
(This post draws heavily upon the experiences of Paul Macalindin as described in his book Upbeat, which chronicles his inspiring work with the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.)
'Orchestra of Dreams, Channel Four's news segment on us, aired that evening. With it came the first taste of some tough questions. How did it feel accepting money from a government that invaded Iraq? Was this guilt money? Zuhal and I were taken aback but also grateful for the provocation, which helped us read the visit's political undercurrents.'
From Upbeat: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq by Paul Macalindin
The above quotation relates to a documentary aired during the NYOI's 2012 tour of the UK. It emphasises how important it is to welcome and be grateful for provocative comments and questions.
Arguably, this is particularly so for collaborative initiatives which are ground breaking and consequently often seen as controversial (just like the NYOI).
This is because many such collaborations find themselves working against the grain of establishment practice and public opinion and the provocations received from the custodians of the former and the representatives of the latter help them enhance the clarity and acceptability of their purpose and key messages, improve their overall effectiveness and, importantly, prepare for any negative reactions, unhelpful political manoeuvrings or animal traps placed in their way.
When listened to openly and carefully, provocative questions and comments reveal much about the preoccupations and interests of the people a collaboration has to work with, work around and, in some cases, work against.
So, as well as getting your mouth ready to make arguments in defence of your collaboration, get your ears ready to listen very carefully to what people are saying and how people are saying it (and get your eyes ready to notice where and when they are choosing to say it).
Then, as I say above, you will be able to use what you have discovered to not only enhance your effectiveness within the context you are working but also prepare for and perhaps avoid the harmful frictions and painful splintering that comes of working against the grain.
