AN ORCHESTRA IS NOT A DEMOCRACY

 

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16 September, 2011 - Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

Saad learned English from an American soldier and is also fluent in Turkish, Arabic & Kurdish despite never going to school. His brother was killed during the war in Mosul. In prison Saad learned how to tattoo himself and this morning he tattooed his name on his left arm.

9 September, 2011 - Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

Mosque in the Erbil Citadel, known as the oldest continuously occupied site in the world dating back to the 5th millennium BC, possibly earlier.

9 September, 2011 - Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

Erbil Citadel, known as the oldest continuously occupied site in the world dating back to the 5th millennium BC, possibly earlier.

14 December, 2012 - Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan

The father of National Youth Orchestra of Iraq violinist Rebaz Sadiq works the bellows at the family blacksmith business in Halabja. 24 years prior he had fled Halabja with an infant Rebaz who had suffered burns to the backs of his legs during Saddam Hussein's chemical attack in the final days of the Iran-Iraq War.

14 December, 2012 - Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan

17 December, 2012 - Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi KurdistanKurdish students of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq visit a former torture chamber in Amna Suraka, now known as the 'Red Museum', where the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein's intelligence services, imp…

17 December, 2012 - Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan

Kurdish students of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq visit a former torture chamber in Amna Suraka, now known as the 'Red Museum', where the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein's intelligence services, imprisoned and tortured Kurds from 1986 to 1991

17 December, 2012 - Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan

Display of weapons used in the Kurdish resistance at Amna Suraka, now known as the 'Red Museum', where the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein's intelligence services, imprisoned and tortured Kurds from 1986 to 1991.

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9 September, 2011 - Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

Trumpet tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, Jonathan Thomson visits Erbil Citadel.

15 September, 2012, Erbil, Iraqi KurdistanMembers of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq are searched by Kurdish military upon entering Saad Abdullah Palace Conference Centre where they will perform.

15 September, 2012, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

Members of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq are searched by Kurdish military upon entering Saad Abdullah Palace Conference Centre where they will perform.

20 September, 2011 - Bonn, GermanyDouble Bass player Chia Ahmed studies a bust of Ludwig van Beethoven in the garden of Beethoven's birthplace on the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq's first journey overseas.

20 September, 2011 - Bonn, Germany

Double Bass player Chia Ahmed studies a bust of Ludwig van Beethoven in the garden of Beethoven's birthplace on the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq's first journey overseas.

15 September, 2012 - Erbil, Iraqi KurdistanFirst Chair violinist Saad Al-Saedi warming up in the corridors of Saad Abdullah Palace Conference Centre prior to performance

15 September, 2012 - Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

First Chair violinist Saad Al-Saedi warming up in the corridors of Saad Abdullah Palace Conference Centre prior to performance

12 December, 2012 - Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan

Rehearsal at the Fine Arts Institute of Sulaymaniyah. Many former students of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq have subsequently formed their own chamber orchestras or become conductors or composers in their own right.

More photos coming soon...