When I started working for FCA last spring, this season was already planned.  My friend Leone, FCA board member and the driving force behind our world music program, of which the Yuval Ron Ensemble is a part, gently said: “I don’t think we have the dervish. That’s a mistake. We really need to have him.”

Now Leone is a quiet, gentle person. She is not a noise maker, so the third time she brought this up to me, I really started paying attention. Eventually she said, if you can get the dervish, I will contribute miles to help pay for his trip. Now I’m really paying attention. I call Yuval Ron’s agent to find out what it would take to include the dervish and discover just how much this will cost. I contact the other members of the Alaska Presenters Consortium to see if anyone else is interested. Kodiak agrees that including the dervish is important in making this the best possible performance and we have our first partner in the quest for the dervish.

Between Leone’s miles and Kodiak being willing to share the expense I now feel like I can make an offer – although one that is considerably less than what is being asked and the negotiations have begun. We finally settle on a price (and all the while I’m thinking “I should be working on next year, not revising this year”). The next problem is that the budget has already been allocated so how do we pay for him?

The next stop was a call to my friend Ana Richards at the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Diversity at UAF. “Ana, I want to bring the dervish, can you help?” Boy did she ever.  In addition to helping me herself, she got me in touch with Mr. Hassab Ali from the Campus Muslim Organization and Andrea Greenberg from the Jewish Community. I also got in touch with some friends at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks.

The Yuval Ron Ensemble, our final offering this season, includes Arabic, Jewish and Christian artists who come together to unite sacred musical traditions of Judaism, Sufism (Islamic mystical tradition) and the Christian Armenian Church into an unusual musical celebration. Academy award winning composer Yuval Ron imparts the ancient and deep inter-cultural connection between these three traditions and the musical interests they share. The concert will feature songs of Sufi origin from Turkey, Jewish prayers from Morocco, Yemen and Israel and Armenian chants. The dervish, whose name I now know is Aziz, adds a mesmerizing component that has to be seen to be fully understood. I barely have to explain this to any of these new friends before they readily agree to help.

So, with the help of all these wonderful people, who understand that this is how peace and understanding and memorable performances come to pass, we all proudly present to you an experience that will be truly special.  I am as proud of this presentation - and these new partnerships as I am of anything we have achieved this year. In a time when many traditional funding sources are in jeopardy, getting community support of this nature bodes very well indeed for our future. I hope to see you at this special presentation.

My thanks to Leone, Stefani Doctormann from Kodiak, Ana Richards from the UAF Office of Multiculturalism and Diversity, Thad Keener and Robyne from the Congregation Or HaTzafon, Light of the North, the Jewish Congregation of Fairbanks, Phil Osborn from The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks and Hassab Ali from the Campus Muslims for all playing so well.

As a part of their tour, the Yuval Ron Ensemble will be presenting a workshop on "Music as a Bridge: Bringing People Together with Music". Friday, April 17th at the Unitarian Universalist  Fellowship Hall, across the street from the Princess Lodge.