Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06TUNIS753
2006-03-30 12:51:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tunis
Cable title:  

American Diplomat Builds Bridges of Understanding

Tags:  KPAO OEXC OPRC SCUL SOCI TS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0753/01 0891251
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301251Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0281
UNCLAS TUNIS 000753 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (GERMAIN, LAWRENCE),NEA/PD (SMITH, AGNEW),
ECA (ROMANOWSKI, SCHUMAN)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OEXC OPRC SCUL SOCI TS
SUBJECT: American Diplomat Builds Bridges of Understanding
through Music

Ref: A) State 31478 B) Florence 27

UNCLAS TUNIS 000753

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (GERMAIN, LAWRENCE),NEA/PD (SMITH, AGNEW),
ECA (ROMANOWSKI, SCHUMAN)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO OEXC OPRC SCUL SOCI TS
SUBJECT: American Diplomat Builds Bridges of Understanding
through Music

Ref: A) State 31478 B) Florence 27


1. Summary. During a March cultural program funded by the
ECA Performing Arts Initiative and organized by Tunis PA,
Embassy Political Officer Brennan Gilmore helped score a
significant public diplomacy hit through his musical
collaboration with Tunisian musician Riadh Fehri in a group
called "Kantara," or "bridge" in Arabic. This
collaboration, which included the musical talents of
Gilmore, Fehri, three other young American musicians, and a
Tunisian percussionist, was influenced by traditional
Tunisian and Arabic music and American bluegrass melodies
and rhythm and featured original music by both Gilmore and
Fehri. The result was an exciting harmonious fusion of sound
and culture that built a bridge of understanding between the
United States and the Arab world. This collaboration
resulted in unprecedented positive press coverage of an
Embassy event, with reports in almost all of the Tunisian
print press and interviews on Tunisian television and radio
that highlighted the "harmony" of the mix of diplomacy and
culture and praised the genre-defying new Arab-Appalachian
sound. End Summary.

What is Kantara?
--------------

2. Political Officer Brennan Gilmore, a former professional
musician, met renowned Tunisian oudist and composer Riadh
Fehri shortly after his arrival in Tunis in May 2005. Fehri
has long been interested in fusion music and has worked with
other American artists sponsored by the US Embassy in past
years. Gilmore, Fehri, Lasaad Hosni, a famous Tunisian
percussionist, and three other young American bluegrass
musicians (childhood friends of Gilmore) formed a new
musical group known as "Kantara" (or bridge, in Arabic).
This new group brought together traditional Tunisian and
Arabic music and traditional Appalachian music in a way that
synthesized the talents of the artists and the musical
traditions that had formed them. Thanks to a grant of $6200
from the ECA Performing Arts Initiative (Ref A),Tunis PA
was able to bring the three American musicians to Tunis to

perform in Tunis and in Sousse in March 2006. The group
also performed in Florence to large appreciative audiences
(Ref B).


3. The three American musicians, Ann Marie Calhoun, Zack
Blatter, and Brian Calhoun are childhood friends of Brennan
Gilmore and preeminent musicians in their own right. Ann
Marie Calhoun is one of the most talented American
violinists of her generation, blending a master's ability in
classical music with years of bluegrass and old-time
fiddling. She has won numerous awards in fiddle contests,
has appeared at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy
Center, recently recorded with the multi-platinum Dave
Matthews Band, and is currently touring with Jethro Tull.
Zack Blatter studied music theory at the University of
Virginia and toured the United States with a variety of
musical ensembles. Brian Calhoun studied at the Berklee
School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and co-founded the
bluegrass band "Walker's Run" with Gilmore. A talented
craftsman of guitars and mandolins, he is part owner of the
acclaimed Rockbridge Guitar Company.

Public Diplomacy Coup
--------------

4. Kantara made its debut in Tunis on March 10, 2006, when
they played to a packed, enthusiastic crowd at the Municipal
Theater in Tunis and to rave reviews in the press. This
collaboration, highlighted at a joint press conference at
the US Embassy, was very well-received by the Tunisian media
who rewarded the musicians with the most positive and far-
reaching coverage of an Embassy program that we have seen in
years. Ten Tunisian newspapers and magazines reported on
Kantara while both of the Tunisian television stations
(Channel 7 and TV Hannibal) ran pieces on the group,
including interviews with Gilmore and Fehri. Both of the
private radio stations and one of the government radio
station also ran spots on Kantara, with two of them
featuring interviews with Gilmore and Fehri.


5. The media coverage spanned almost one week and focused on
the use of music as a bridge between peoples. Many papers
were particularly admiring of Gilmore's status as an America
diplomat. As one journalist wrote, "In the end, we swear
that if all diplomats in the world had artistic or musical
expertise on their resumes, certain difficult issues between
states would have a proper resolution. With art and with
style. That is utopia. We will console, ourselves for the
moment, with this type of concert."


6. Praise for the groundbreaking new genre of Arab-

Appalachian music was also forthcoming in the press reviews:
Kantara "succeeded in sowing joy throughout the audience by
offering a display of jubilant art to make us forever forget
hatred. We spent an hour and a half of happiness." ("Le
Quotidien") Kantara "knows no borders" and "has created a
program which departs from the ordinary and allows a harmony
between different types of music which one might believe
impossible." ("Le Temps") "The music is a dream, binding
by its accord, the fluidity and lightness of its notes and
rhythms, and the solid complicity between the Tunisian and
American instrumentalists." ("La Presse") A sampling of
the headlines are provided in para 10.

Walker's Run Event in Sousse
--------------

7. In addition to the Kantara concerts at the Tunis theatre
and a well-received concert/reception at the DCM's
residence, the American musicians, appearing as the
bluegrass group "Walker's Run," spent a day at the Higher
Institute of Music in Sousse. During the day the musicians
gave group and individual workshops to over 200 students,
explaining and demonstrating traditional American music
styles and having Tunisian students play along. The
afternoon workshops ended with an hour long jam session,
alternating between Appalachian and Tunisian songs, often
combining the two. In the evening, Walker's Run performed a
concert for the assembled student body, plus the director of
the Institute and the President of the University of Sousse.
After performing traditional and original material for
nearly an hour, the American musicians invited their
newfound Tunisian friends on stage for a show-stopping half
hour jam, again integrating American and Tunisian music.
By the end of the performance many students were dancing on
their chairs, while the invited dignitaries stood in
ovation.

Comment
--------------

8. In a highly controlled media environment that is
restricted by both government control and by some anti-
American sentiment, it was noteworthy that even those
newspapers who rarely print Embassy press releases and
otherwise refuse to print positive articles on the United
States lauded Kantara. Even though Embassy Tunis frequently
sponsors American musicians in Tunis, this is the first time
that we have seen such wide and positive coverage of an
Embassy event. It would appear that the presence of an
American diplomat on stage, reaching out to Tunisians
through music, was the variable that made the difference in
capturing the "hearts and minds" of the journalists and the
Tunisian public alike. Not to mention that the genre-
defying music itself was universally praised by both
Tunisians and international concert attendees.


9. Embassy Tunis would like to extend a special thanks to
ECA for its generous support to this important initiative.
We hope that this particularly successful program, which
highlights American culture at the same time that is shows
the positive possibilities of Arab-American cultural
cooperation, can be replicated throughout the NEA region and
other areas with significant Arab-Muslim populations. End
Comment.

Sample headlines
--------------

10. Sample headlines from the Tunisian press include:

"La Presse" (government owned daily, circulation 42,000):
March 8 "A bridge between diplomacy and music" March 12 "An
American dream and stars in their eyes"
"Le Temps" (privately owned daily, circulation 25,000):
March 9 "Search for harmony via a bridge of song" March 12
"Kantara: for a musical reconciliation"
"Le Quotidien" (privately owned daily, circulation 25,000):
March 8 "Bridge of love" March 12 "Kantara: A good recipe:
Two Tunisians and four Americans succeeded in sowing joy on
all levels in offering us a joyous are to help us forget
hatred"
"Le Renouveau" (government owned daily, circulation 27,000):
March 21 "Between Medjerda and the Appalachians"
"As Sabah" (privately owned daily, circulation 25,000):
March 8 "Press conference: Riadh Fehri announces the
Tunisian-American Kantara show and promises the public a big
surprise during next summer"
"Al-Horriya" (government owned daily, circulation 35,000):
March 9, 2006 "Kantara show in the Municipal Theater: Music
expression without borders!"
"As-Sahafa" (government owned daily, circulation 35,000):
March 9, 2006 "In a press conference held by the Tunisian-
American group Kantara: an innovative mixture between

different types of music. Music bridges to open up horizons
of dialogue and communication among people."
HUDSON