Dear friends and sponsors of The Mesopotamian Night musical fund raiser

In this letter I am going to give you a short report on our recent progress on the Mesopotamian Night project that started three years ago. I am hoping I will be able to convince you to remain or be our sponsor for 2009 concert which will be held in Modesto, California on August 15, 2009 at the Gallo Center for the Arts.

Mesopotamian Night 2008 had quite a few fruitful results. Our fund raiser contributed over $60,000 to general funds of the Assyrian Aid Society of America (AAS-A). AAS-A spend more than $750,000 on Assyrian Chaldean causes in 2008. Our Central Valley Chapter was part of this success story. We managed to premier excerpts from the first Assyrian Opera Gilgamesh (a work in progress pending on availability of funding) . We managed to orchestrate and revive classical Assyrian folklore songs already forgotten by our people among them four William Daniel songs. We also managed to perform the Assyrian National Anthem “Roomrama” in its orchestrated form not heard before. We demonstrated that combing Mesopotamian inspired art forms and music and western art forms and music is possible and produces fruitful results. One example was the beautiful ballet interpretation of the Mesopotamian myth of the Hullupu Tree. We demonstrated that our pop music has more potential and can go beyond our regular performances at parties and weddings. We managed to produce a DVD and a CD product from our 2008 concert with a quality that is unprecedented in our community thanks to talented Assyrian artists who were inspired to help us achieve this goal. We created a project that many experts in our community and outside our community cooperated to create an unforgettable event. This included musicians, film makers, composers, singers, performing art organizations, etc. This spirit of team work was by itself a major milestone and great experience moving forward.

For the Mesopotamian Night 2009 project we plan to bring in a 50-piece orchestra that would perform the following pieces: Assyryt: Symphonic Suite Assyria – We have funded and completed the creation of two symphonic suites based on the composition works of the Assyrian composer Paulos Khofri. Assyryt will be a major part of MN-2009 concert. The Opera Qateeni: This project which was started two years ago finally has come to fruition. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of a French composer that we were able to inspire to take on this important project. This opera is based on the three volume epic poem Qateeni Gabbara by Rabi William Daniel. We will present one full act of the opera based on chapter seven of the epic: In Malik Tooma’s castle. The Overture from the Gilgamesh Oratorio: This is a new project initiated by Rev. Samuel Khangaldy of San Jose CA. The Death of Enkidu Opera Scene from the Gilgamesh Assyrian Opera: This is the continuation of the work on Gilgamesh Opera by John Craton based of Rabi Adddai Alkhas’s Assyrian Aramaic version. More Assyrian folklore, classical and popular songs: We are again bringing an interesting array of Assyrian singers to perform at our concert using the 50-piece orchestra. Currently the challenge for the production of our 2009 Mesopotamian Night concert is attracting more funds for the orchestra and other production costs.

We would like to ask you to participate in the success of our project by being an sponsor for our project. While all sponsors will be recognized and mentioned in our program book, we have offered honorary membership in our organizing committee for all sponsors who donate $2500 or more. I appeal to you to join us this year to push the Assyrian art and music one step further. If you have any question you could contact me by my email tonykhoshaba@sbcglobal.net or my cell phone 209-606-5438. The donations could be sent to AAS-A Central Valley Chapter, P. O. Box. 579843, Modesto, CA 95357. Please write in memo “Mesopotamian Night 2009 Sponsor”.

Sincerely,

Tony Khoshaba

Assyrian Aid Society – Central Valley Chapter President
Mobile: 209-606-5438
Home: 209-579-2740
AAS-A Chapter mailing address: P.O. Box 579843, Modesto, CA 95357