Somali violin novice wins TV orchestra championship for the first time in four years

Born during the outbreak of Somalia’s civil war, Marian Ali Mohamed dreamed of one day performing live on stage.

She spent hours imitating musicians on TV and always wanted to master an instrument.

In 2019 she picked up her first violin. Now 33 years old, he is one of 40 musicians who make up the Somali orchestra.

The East African country does not have an official national orchestra, but for the first time an ensemble of musicians has been assembled for a series of televised performances.

Men and women in suits and satin are recorded harmoniously playing trumpets, drums, and the traditional stringed instrument, the oud.

“I have never seen anything like this,” said Fadumo Hussian, a 70-year-old grandmother who was watching from her living room on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.

“I remember bands playing when I was a kid, but nothing like this,” she told the BBC.

Organized by Mogadishu-based production company Astan TV, the performance aims to revive Somali music.

“We brought this orchestra together and gave them space to rehearse,” said Mohamed Abdiwali, one of the event organizers.

“Now they can play Somali classical music,” he said.

Carefully produced programming is broadcast online and on local television.

“The younger generation needs to hear our history,” he explained.

“Historically, Somalia has had bands with a limited number of instruments,” explains Jama Mousse Jama, director of the Hargeisa Cultural Center.

Because orchestras are large and classically focused, they often place a greater emphasis on collaboration and synchronicity.

“Working together in harmony, building music in harmony,” Dr. Jama said, noting the sounds of Egyptian and Sudanese orchestras.

“It’s all about coming together,” he added.

Musicians were hand-selected from across the country for this project, including both seasoned instrumentalists and emerging talents like Mohammed.

“I play alone or with a group of people all the time, but never on this scale,” she told the BBC.

The mother of two started taking violin lessons just a few years ago as part of a community program in Mogadishu. She now practices using YouTube videos.

“I’m so grateful to be here,” she said with a smile.

Somalia has faced political instability and conflict since the outbreak of civil war in 1991. It had a ripple effect on cultural institutions.

“Somali music hasn’t had a place for years,” says Dr. Jama.

Opened in 1967, Mogadishu’s National Theater was once the city’s cultural melting pot.

Spectators gathered in a large hall in central Mogadishu to watch plays, musical performances and a film festival.

It quickly became the center of the creative community.

“Beyond the physical building, musicians and artists must be encouraged to come together, share ideas and create something tangible,” Dr. Jama explained.

During the civil war, the building was fought over by rival militias, and its roof once collapsed after being hit by mortar fire.

Across Somalia, cultural institutions and exports are currently being revived, led by the return of cinemas, art exhibitions, and Somali television programs.

The National Theater reopened in 2020 and is hosting a variety of events, including this year’s Mogadishu Book Fair.

Somaliland’s capital Hargeisa is increasingly hosting live music nights featuring traditional Somali music and food, which Dr Jama says is essential to sharing the country’s rich culture across generations. .

“Somali music is not well archived,” he told the BBC.

“We don’t have sheet music. Once we play, the music disappears and remains only in the singer’s memory,” he said.

“That’s why televised orchestral performances are so special,” he added.

“By documenting this, we are creating something tangible for future generations to see, understand, and appreciate.

“This is a victory for Somali music.”