COLUMN: Playing For Peace

From Sonja Stumacher's "Fragments of the Sun," Fall '95 From Sonja Stumacher's "Fragments of the Sun," Fall '95Can you picture an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Jew playing chamber music together in the dense woods of southern New Hampshire? Unlikely as it may sound, they do. Miles from From Sonja Stumacher's "Fragments of the Sun," Fall '95Can you picture an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Jew playing chamber music together in the dense woods of southern New Hampshire? Unlikely as it may sound, they do. Miles from their native Middle Eastern land, surrounded by nothing but the hush and swell of the forest, these musicians manage to achieve what centuries of tension and strife have not: a moment of peace. For several years these musicians have journeyed to New Hampshire to participate in a music program created by the Apple Hill Chamber Players to celebrate the healing power of a universal language, a speech that transgresses the normal boundaries of communication. Music serves as the harmonic medium, a common vocabulary of intonation and rhythm, a basis on which ancient enemies may construct a new understanding of each other. For whatever reason, other approaches to the struggles in the Middle East have failed to succeed. Violent hostility still penetrates the land, threatening to continue indefinitely. Neighbors cannot share a common soil. Children are raised to fear and avoid the enemies of their elders. The situation is so wrought with enmity that it becomes difficult to imagine a peaceful resolution. It seems obvious that hand shakes and signatures fall far short of repairing centuries of conflict. Is it not evident that history calls for a new approach? People themselves need to be reached, need to reach each other. They need a neutral ground on which to meet and a neutral language with which to speak. Children should be asked before they are infiltrated with their ancestors' hatred. Many of the Israelis who participate in the music program at Apple Hill are young men and women who dedicate themselves not only to music but also to peace. The ease with which these alleged enemies become friends points to an enlightening conclusion: Despite what society tells them to think of each other, these people willingly strive for brotherhood and tranquillity. Ultimately, music manages to serve as the common tongue through which the students become acquainted. In spite of diverse backgrounds, conflicting philosophies and different religions, each musician shares a knowledge of key signatures, notes, rests and staff lines. Beyond this, each also shares a love for the musical tapestries they weave together. This music program alone will not solve the problems in the Middle East. Years of animosity cannot be undone simply by playing a Mozart string quartet. However, chamber music provides a far wider arena for communication and potential friendship than you realize. To participate, one must know when to listen and when to make oneself heard. When to support a neighbor and when to move in a new direction. When to dance, when to weep, when to call for a new beginning. A person who masters the art of playing chamber music just might master the art of creating peace and harmony. This experience could easily be expanded to encompass the equally tense relations within our own country and on our own campus. The same lesson may apply to our own disruptive racial struggles, gender-based inequalities, religious prejudices and class biases. To alleviate hostility, we need to find a middle ground and a common language with which to address our opponents so that we may learn to understand each other. Within the context of this premise, music itself plays a role beyond the medium through which strangers and even enemies may communicate. To engage in the creative process of playing music is to invest yourself into the shared effort of artistic expression. Beyond serving merely as a language by which people may converse, music acts as an outlet of intense personal expression, a communication which words alone cannot contribute. The Apple Hill Chamber Players exert a unique effort to foster understanding and friendship through music. The game may have been changed and the scenery may have been altered, but the underlying intent remains the same: They wish to create peace. We may observe their effort and learn from their personal, artistic and mutually appreciative procedure for overcoming deep-seeded differences. This approach to an ancient struggle is both refreshing and hopeful. I think it is worth close consideration and careful thought. The past speaks for itself. What remains is our decision to support the process of rediscovery, of friendship, of music and of peace.