Bzhwen Abdulkarim

My journey started from Sulaymaniyah as a musician where I was part of the Kurdish String Orchestra and Sulaymaniyah Orchestra; I am also a Kurdistan Artist Syndicate member. Since moving to Switzerland in 2010, I have taught and played music with several bands and orchestras in Kurdistan and Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Vienna and Switzerland). Currently, I teach violin in the music school programme at ISZL and I am part of two different music ensembles.

The Middle East is an area of the world that many people hear about, but often don’t know much more than the stories of war, destruction, terrorism and corruption that are depicted in the media. Kurdish people are also only in our consciousness when we hear stories of them struggling for independence and clashing with the dominant cultures in the countries where they live (Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran).

As a Kurdish musician living in Switzerland, I feel it is important to be able to share and celebrate the culture and traditions of the Kurdish people, and I hope to be able to do this at this year’s YFS event. As well as playing some music with one of my ensembles, we will explore Kurdish dance, traditional food and dress and music scales which we call Maqam or Makam if you are a musician. If you would like to know about music from the Middle East you probably have a chance to play some music with us or try our instruments (Violin, Oud, Saz, Tar, Percussion and Keyboard).