Seattle Symphony plays music from 7 nations that Trump banned

Seattle Symphony plays music from 7 nations that Trump banned

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norman lebrecht

February 08, 2017

The Seattle Symphony is putting on a protest concert tonight, titled, Music Beyond Borders: Voices from the 7.

Here’s the reasoning:

The arts community across the country has been contributing in meaningful ways to the discussion around immigration following the recent executive order restricting travel and immigration from these countries. As artists and Americans, we are committed to freedom of expression and the open exchange of ideas which create an environment of mutual understanding and the capacity for empathy. At the Seattle Symphony, we are inspired to add our voice in the hopes that we can come together through music.

Full details here.

 

Comments

  • Doug says:

    Let me ask you NWO One Worlders a question: if you truly believe a) there should be no borders and no rules or laws governing travel between countries b) the United States is such a horrible place to be. Then please, by all means, emigrate to Mexico, Canada, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba…etc… Oh, that’s right…they enforce movement along their borders and laws governing immigration!

    As they say, “if it wasn’t for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all.”

    • Josh says:

      Not sure where you get “open borders” from – when Mrs. Clinton said that in a speech she was referring to trade, not movement of people.

      No one(or I would assume no one with a brain) on the left is arguing for a lack of security or vetting. Refugees go through a 13 step vetting process before being allowed into the United States, including a 6 degrees of separation rule, meaning that if any links to terrorism can be found within 6 degrees of familial separation, they are denied entry immediatey. People can argue that this already extremely tight system needs to be tightened more, but what they should not do is impose a blanket ban on entry from 7 countries, which results in a United States that is not only less free, but more isolated, and, most importantly, less safe.

      This is not about security vs. open borders. This is about common sense and basic morality winning the day vs. the forces of fear and division.

      • Steve P says:

        Wrong. And music is art for its own sake. Deplorable conduct by musicians using their art to pimp lib lunacy.
        Trump will prevail. Music will survive. Art is forever.

        • Paul Rauch says:

          Trump’s ban was illegal. This is not “lib lunacy,” but the law upheld by a supreme court judge appointed by Bush. There is a term for leaders who rule without regard for the law- dictator. Conservatives believe they elected a republican, when in reality, they allowed a tyrant to become POTUS. SSO did not send out an anti Trump message, but a message of unity.

    • music.montreal says:

      Soooo I take it you won’t be going to the concert? Border and immigration control is not the same as a blanket travel ban. NO terror attacks have been perpretated on US soil by people from the 7 countries listed. That’s not liberals talking, that’s a fact.

    • Adam Stern says:

      I see nothing in the Seattle Symphony musicians’ statement that expresses a wish for “no borders and no rules or laws governing travel between countries”, nor any trashing of the U.S. as a place to live — unless, like our President, you take anything contrary to his edicts as a personal slight and/or evidence of a lack of patriotism.

    • Bruce says:

      Right! Because the ONLY possible alternative to a blanket ban is no borders/ no rules/ no laws governing travel or immigation.

  • Scott in PA says:

    Yes, let’s hear from the Libyan Beethoven, the Somali Mozart, and the Sudanese Bach – whoever they are. That’ll show them! America needs to hear just what we’re being deprived of.

    • music.montreal says:

      This is so dumb. Rossini: An Italian in Algiers. Mozart: ‘Turkish’ Violin Concerto, Rondo alla Turk. St-Saëns: ‘Egyptian’ Piano Concerto. Rimski-Korsakov: Sheherazade. Did you geniuses wanna ban Russian music in the Cold War?

  • MacroV says:

    Mr. Lebrecht – Maybe it’s time to shut off the comments section on pieces like this. It inevitably starts with a comment like Doug’s and degenerates from there.

    • Patrick says:

      As much as it hurts, sometimes it’s good to know how much hate is out there. Now, repeat after me…”I’m not like Doug”.

    • Furzwängler says:

      Give it time, dear Macrov, and somebody will mention Adolf. I believe there is some kind of law that states that this must inevitably be so.

      • Bruce says:

        It’s called Godwin’s Law. You can look it up.

        I’d agree with Macrov, but that would decrease the number of clicks on the site…

  • Stephen Limbaugh says:

    Obviously they’ve learned nothing from this election… this will only energize the conservatives to shut down the National Endowment for the Arts and similar orgs.

  • MacroV says:

    If you watch the video you’ll notice something: The Seattle Symphony is doing something that so many orchestras struggle with: Being relevant to its community. Seattle is a pretty liberal place. The orchestra is playing to its base, God bless ’em. I have no idea if the audience was their regular crowd or just a bunch of pro-immigration hippies, beatniks, and Trump haters, but if the latter, then they managed to bring in a new audience, too.

  • Jack says:

    The characterization of this as a “protest concert” could not have been further from the truth – such an absurd mischaracterization by the author of this post.

    Speaking as someone who actually attended the concert (which, for all you flag-wavers, ended with a touching rendition of “America the Beautiful”) it was not a protest, it was a celebration of the contributions immigrants have made both to the SSO (which is roughly 1/4 immigrants) and to symphonic music in general. It was a chance to hear some amazing artists and compositions from those countries specifically affected by the travel ban. It was an affirmation of our community here in Seattle as a unified and accepting group of musicians and music lovers.

    The concert was beautiful, hopeful, uplifting and poignant. For anyone on this thread to suggest otherwise is just unfounded nonsense, completely unsupported by the reality of the performance.

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