Belgium-based world music ensemble Refugees for Refugees is changing its name to Refa. The group will present a brand new repertoire built around the traditional music of the different regions of the world from which the musicians of the collective originate.
Syrian ud (lute) player clarifies: “We want to be considered above all as musicians, as people, and not as refugees. The name of our group has locked us into a role of victim. We want the organizers to program us for our music, not because we are refugees.”
Refa will present its new repertoire on April 10, 2021 at Muziekpublique.
The Refa lineup includes Aren Dolma (Tibet-Belgium) on vocals; Damla Aydin (Turkey-Belgium) on cello; Fakher Madallal (Syria-Belgium) on vocals, percussion; Mohammad Aman Yusufi (Afghanistan-Belgium) on dambura, vocals; Mostafa Taleb (Iran-Belgium) on kemenche; Shahab Azinmehr (Iran-Belgium) on tar, seta; Simon Leleux (Belgium) on percussion; Tammam Al Ramadan (Syria-Belgium) on ney; and Tarek Alsayed Yahya (Syria-Belgium) on ud.
Refugees for Refugees had a remarkable five-year adventure, with two albums (Amerli and Amina), more than a hundred concerts in Belgium and abroad, rave reviews, as well as a first place in the Transglobal World Music Charts in 2016 and Klara award for best Belgian world music album in 2019.
[headline photo: Refa during a rehearsal]
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
Es un proceso normal..no hay nada de malo en haberse dado a conocer como músicos refugiados como tampoco lo es haberse cansado de ser encasillados en el rol de víctimas. Celebremos los cambios sin renegar de lo que fuimos antes!! Bella música.