Iraq's biggest pop star is coming to Berkeley
this week, hoping to offer a glimpse of a culture overshadowed by
political turmoil.
Kazem Al-Sahir, a romantic singer who has sold more than 31
million albums, has been hailed as the Elvis Presley and the Frank
Sinatra of the Arab world.
Al-Sahir will perform in a benefit concert at the Berkeley
Community Theater Friday.
The Middle East Children's Alliance, a sponsor and the benefactor
of Al-Sahir's Berkeley concert, is a Berkeley-based organization
working to end the suffering of children affected by war and strife
in the Middle East.
Although not overtly political in his public appearances,
Al-Sahir wanted to bring across a positive view of Iraqi culture and
life through his music.
"He believes that people need to see another side to the Iraqi
people," said Dawn Elder, Al-Sahir's manager in North America and
Europe. "They're not what is sometimes portrayed in the media.
They're just like us."
In past years, Al-Sahir has promoted and supported several
humanitarian programs focused on children.
As the United States began gearing up for a possible war against
Iraq, Al-Sahir started a national concert tour.
Accompanied by an ensemble of prominent Arab-American musicians,
Al-Sahir opened his tour in Las Vegas last week, and performed in
Detroit and New York before flying to the West Coast.
The pop star's music has been described as a union of classical
Arab music and pop.
Al-Sahir's music deals with love, the classic mainstay of pop
music but also more personal themes of exile, peace and hope.
A BBC poll last year rated one of Al-Sahir's works as the sixth
most favorite song in the world.
Although Al-Sahir lives in Canada and has not returned to Iraq in
six years, he has nevertheless become a cultural icon in Iraq and
the Arab world at large.
As a composer, Al-Sahir has been credited with bringing back
traditional classical Arabic music, as well as musical scales that
have fallen out of popular usage.
Al-Sahir has also been noted for his use of a large orchestra
rather than synthesizers.
For his U.S. tour, Al-Sahir has been accompanied by musicians
hailing from Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and other parts of the Middle
East.
In addition to utilizing modern pop instrumentation, the
orchestra will be playing a variety of traditional string and
percussion instruments.
Salman Alam, a member of the Muslim Student Association, said the
concert is timely, as a possible U.S. war with Iraq looms.
"Obviously (Al-Sahir) is not naive about what's going on," Alam
said. "I think this is probably his attempt at letting Americans
know that people from the Iraqi community—families, children,
singers like himself, all sorts of people—will be affected the war."
Elder said Al-Sahir's music has no political agenda, rather it is
about showing his culture in a positive light.
"He has a humanity issue here—that we're all one," Elder said.
He's hoping that his talent and his devotion to music and the arts
can be another face (of Iraq)."
The concert is being sponsored by the Middle East Children's
Alliance and a coalition of music companies and private individuals,
including KPFA radio.
