Last week’s evening of music from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths certainly made us do away with any preconceptions about sacred music.
On Thursday, 19 November the Queensland Forum for Christians, Jews and Muslims (“The Forum”) once again organized an evening of music from the three Abrahamic faith traditions, in an event jointly hosted with the Multi-Faith Centre at Griffith University, where the event took place. This was the third such annual event.
Before the evening began, the Zillmere Warriors – four members of a band linked to the Zillmere Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Congress of the Uniting Church – set the lively tone of the evening with their sound check. They did not hesitate to co-opt the percussionist of Zmiryah Jewish Chorshul, since their own percussionist had been unable to come. Thus the interfaith nature of the evening was demonstrated visibly from the very start.
Shofar So Good (aka Ariel Heber) opened the evening by blowing the shofar, the ancient instrument made from a long ram’s horn and used in Jewish ceremonies. It underlined for us the ancient roots of many of the traditions that became visible during the evening.
Two contrasting groups represented the Jewish tradition: Zmiryah Jewish Chorshul and The Urchins. We marveled at the vocal harmonies of Zmiryah, whose sense of joy in singing the Psalms came across strongly.
The Urchins had a different agenda. These were four students from the Conservatorium of Music, playing double bass, violin, viola and cello. They almost succeeded in getting us all up onto the dance floor with their selection of Jewish dance music past and contemporary.
It was good to be brought into a prayerful mode by a representative of the Queensland International Society, who chanted the Muslim call to prayer and a passage from the Koran. The haunting strains conveyed a sense of meditative reflection.
The Zillmere Warriors then illustrated their version of prayer and praise in song, with gospel choruses and traditional music from the Solomon Islands. Their harmonies were beautiful and their exhuberance catching; most people were soon up on their feet. The percussionist from Zmiryah Jewish Chorshul seemed to be enjoying himself as well.
We then had the rare privilege of hearing traditional Persian music played on ancient instruments by two members of the Nematollahi (Ghadeer ali Shah) Sufi Order. The complex rhythms of the hand-held drum (the daf), the wooden flute and a stringed instrument were largely improvised. This was a quieter contribution than the one before it, and it brought home to the audience the great diversity of cultural experience that is linked to the many expressions of the Abrahamic faiths world wide.
At the end of the musical part of the evening, MC David Paratz invited all of those who had made musical contributions to come up onto the stage once more. The Zillmere Warriors improvised very competently on their instruments as together we all sang the chorus of “I am Australian.” It was a fitting finale.
Hospitality in action
When everyone streamed into the next room for supper, drawn by the aromas of Sultan Deen’s famous curry, the chatter was very lively. Each of the faith groups provided food – our Jewish friends some wonderful kosher cakes, the Muslim community that great halal curry and various other delicacies, while the Christian delegates to the Forum brought fruit, nuts and other food to complement the contributions of our friends. Sharing a meal has always been a great way of getting to know people and entering into dialogue. Hospitality is the hallmark of many cultures associated with the different religions.
The evening was highly successful, and we hope it will be repeated in some form next year.
