Finding refuge in music
In the spring of 2017, I was looking through my family’s security box for my social security card. I came across a document from 1988 signed by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees; it had my family’s last name on it. Puzzled, I approached my parents. What on earth was my family doing with the UNHCR? “You should probably sit down for this,” said my father. I resemble a typical American, suburban young adult. However, my family’s household stood far apart from that cast. My mom emigrated from Poland, and my father from Romania, both with the vision of living the American dream. That’s what they wanted to be when they grew up: not a pilot or an astronaut, but an American. My mom’s story of how she came to America was an open book. My dad’s story, however, remained a mystery until that warm spring day in 2017. It took my father 23 years to sit me down and reveal to me his story of how he escaped Romania at the height of the communist regime as a refugee. Suddenly, I understood my father and no longer looked at him as a hard, Central European man, but an individual with a story of tragedy, burden, and resiliency.
With the clothes on his back, he came through a storm setting out for distant shores. My dad’s journey was one of a warrior in search of refuge and peace. And, as President John F. Kennedy said, is peace not a matter of human rights? My father pursued the right to live out his life without desolation, and for the freedom of future generations to a healthy existence. He wanted a better life -- a life of dignity, independence, self-reliance, and meaningful work.
My father’s story is not unique. Today, the world buckles under the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Per the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee their country because of persecution, war, or violence. Many of these refugees are trapped in limbo, on a journey with no end in sight – skill-sets untapped, dignity deprived. Among them, as my father was, are musicians. Throughout history, civilizations have been remembered through the arts. With over 71 million displaced persons, refugees can come together to use music and art to write their stories and change the future.
Sebastian Agignoae
The International Orchestra of Refugees
With my family story and the power of music in mind, I founded the International Orchestra of Refugees, where we empower displaced musicians to become musical ambassadors of peace, through orchestral opportunities and collaborative community. The International Orchestra of Refugees is designed to create residences for musicians who have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Its mission is to drastically improve refugee resettlement by using music — a strong ambassador of peace. A primary objective is to travel from refugee site to refugee site recruiting displaced musicians into a full-sized conventional orchestra — one that embodies hope and the strength of the human spirit.
IOR Delegation at UN HQ NYC
As a precursor to a physical International Orchestra of Refugees, our team is developing a digital database, or a virtual orchestra. In a virtual sphere, there is no concern about borders and isolation, as is the case with refugees today. Instead, there is the freedom to connect. By way of this digital database, we connect refugee musicians with employers, but more importantly, with one another, allowing for the formation of satellite ensembles groups in cities across the globe. In doing so, we can develop sustainable means for refugee communities to prosper. From this virtual orchestra will spawn a physical orchestra, one that embodies hope and the strength of the human spirit.
Before I proceeded with launching the International Orchestra of Refugees, I visited several different institutions to seek advice on how to bring this initiative to life. Refugee communities and organizations were supportive. While I didn’t find a refugee orchestra, I found several refugee musicians working to make a name for themselves, and make an impact in the world, to which I replied, “why don’t we work together in a united front?” Our objective is not to help refugees survive from day to day, but to empower them to reclaim their lives through the dignity of real, valuable, honest to goodness work. Here are just a few of these resilient musicians I met on my journey.
Musical Ambassadors of Peace
Born in the Kasakah Province of Northern Syria, Arian is a composer. In 2002, Arian was recognized as an Oud player and singer from the Institute of Music Education in Qamishli city, Syria. He fled from Syria because of the war. From there, he traveled to northern Iraq, then to Istanbul. There he continued his music career and met his wife. Arian is the Syrian refugee composer of the Refugee Anthem, written for the Refugee Nation and the 2016 Refugee Team of the Summer Olympic Games in Rio. About music, Arian says, “Music is the best language to deliver my message to humanity, which is to love each other, and this language does not require a translation.” Arian’s story is especially striking because if we were to trace back the oldest sheet music ever recorded, we would find ourselves in Syria. These deep historical and cultural roots in music are now plagued and overshadowed with corrupt regimes and war. Arian published a musical album featuring his work on significant music distributors in March 2020, which can be found here.
Artem is a classically trained violinist. He grew up in a small town an hour outside of Moscow, Russia. He shared with me his plight from Russia, fearing persecution for being gay. Not only in Russia, but in countries around the globe, LGBTQ people live in basic fear for their freedom, their safety, and their lives, seeking protection from state-enabled violence, murder, or persecution. Artem is looked upon today for his leadership and strength in the face of pervasive disregard for fundamental LGBTQ rights.
Artem Kolesov with Refugee Flag
As I write this, it is hard to imagine how rapidly the COVID-19 crisis has escalated around the globe. During the COVID-19 outbreak, Arian and Artem came together virtually in remote locations thousands of miles apart to perform the Refugee Anthem, composed by Arian in 2016.
This was a reminder that, even amid a crisis, we can come together to celebrate virtual performances. While the pandemic has forced us to remain physically distant from one another, we still remained united in song. This is evident in the number of virtual performances that have flooded the internet during the global pandemic. All of these videos that have surfaced online showing musicians playing with one another has only demonstrated that a virtual orchestra, like the one the International Orchestra of Refugees is developing, can work. As the global community becomes orientated toward these virtual performances, our team is mobilized to continue bringing together more musicians.
The Climate Refugee
In the town of Shishmaref, Alaska, the effects of global climate change are described as the most dramatic in the world. Located in Northern Alaska, Shishmaref is home to a Native American Inupiaq Eskimo community. Due to a dramatic reduction in sea ice, and the melting of permafrost that the village is built on, this coastal community is being swallowed by the sea. Shishmaref, Alaska, has been identified by many in the global community as ground zero for climate change in the Arctic. Located on Sarichef, an island north of the Bering Strait, this small Alaskan village is home to 600 people. The stakes are high for the people of Shishmaref as their town faces an imminent threat of destruction. Their well-being and way of life are threatened. Notice the evident thread connecting climate change and forced migration. I can’t help but reflect on how universal the narrative of a refugee can be, and how the 1951 Refugee Convention doesn’t protect climate refugees.
Events transpiring in Shishmaref may very well foreshadow the fates of other global coastal cities. It is projected 200 million people will be displaced by 2050 due to climate change. At this rate, there will be four times as many persons displaced due to climate change as compared to people displaced due to violence and persecution. This pressing public challenge opens the conversation and sets a precedent to other parts of our globe that have been stricken by significant climate events. From rapid sea ice loss in the Arctic to brushfires in Australia, islands in Micronesia being swallowed by the sea, to heatwaves occurring more often in major cities across the world, many parts of the globe are in survival mode. Rather than reaching for prosperity for all humankind, are we solely striving to survive?
A Common Plan for our Common Home
There are few things that the world comes together for: sport, food, and music, to name a few.
“Using music, we hope to engage the global community, including policymakers, strategists, and global leaders, into a paradigm shift on the refugee crisis, inviting others to see the talent, resiliency, and contribution from within refugee communities.”
While many of these displaced persons come from different parts of the world, speaking different languages, music and the arts is the one language we all have in common.
To conclude, I will share a story of when I was in Hong Kong, meeting with some partners for this operation. I received a message in my inbox saying, “Hi, I belong to the Refugee Nation team, the people that created the refugee flag with Yara Said, the refugee artist. We will be happy to send you the flag.” Designed by a Syrian refugee artist for the ten refugee athletes that competed in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, this orange and black flag was inspired by the life vests many refugees had to wear in search of a safer land to live. This flag was given to me at the beginning of this journey, and I carry it with me today for my dad, for refugee musicians, and displaced persons across the globe. I’m the son of a refugee, and it’s the refugee people I will serve. In a commencement address by Karl Paulnack at Boston Conservatory several years ago, he said, “Music is a basic need of human survival. Music is one of the ways we make sense of our lives, one of how we express feelings when we have no words, a way for us to understand things with our hearts when we can’t with our minds.” Let us build a world that restores dignity, that allows people, like these refugee musicians, to prosper, not just survive. Let us find refuge in music.
Sebastian Agignoae
Founder and Chairman, International Orchestra of Refugees
