Dear friends and sponsors of The Mesopotamian Night musical fund raiser
Mesopotamian Night project now is in its fourth year of operation. We have produced so far three important Assyrian cultural events. These events not only made significant contributions to the production, documentation and revival of Assyrian music in various forms (classical, opera, folklore and pop music) and promotion of Assyrian visual arts, but also raised over $165,000 in the span of three years for the humanitarian and cultural projects of Assyrian Aid Society of America. This an unprecedented success story and it has only been possible by hard work of our committee members, passionate contribution of our artists, and the generous support of our sponsors like yourself.
Like last year, in this letter of appeal, I am going to give you a short progress report on the Mesopotamian Night project. I am hoping I can count on you again to remain our sponsor for 2010 concert which will be held in Modesto, California in Summer 2010.
1. Despite all the economic difficulties of 2009, Mesopotamian Night 2009 raised $35,000 for AAS-A general funds to be used directly on Education projects in Bet-Nahrin, Iraq.
2. We funded and completed two Assyrian folklore classical symphonic suites based on the composition works of the Assyrian composer Paulos Khofri. Suite No. 1 was performed and Suite No.2 to be performed in 2010.
3. We helped form a new choir group called “Mesopotamian Choir Ensemble”. This group performed three choir songs from Rabi Paulos Khofri and Rabi Nebu Issabey. These choir songs for the first time were performed with a fifty three piece symphony orchestra.
4. We added two more songs to our collection of William Daniel classical folklore music which were performed by Assyrian soprano Lorraine Davis.
5. We successfully kicked off the creation of the opera Qateeni and successfully premiered one act of this opera reviving the already forgotten epic poem master piece of William Daniel.
6. We continued work on the Assyrian opera Gilgamesh and premiered another scene from this opera.
7. By our support for the first time an Assyrian classical composer (Rev. Samuel Khangaldy) started the creation of a magnificent piece of Assyrian classical music called “Gilgamesh Oratorio”. The overture for this work was successfully performed in 2009.
8. For the first time in addition to attracting support from community resources (individuals and organizations), we managed to attract funding in the form of a two year grant from The James Irvine Foundation a well respected California based organization that supports creation of works of art, music and education by those organizations that make significant contribution to the life of people of California.
9. We managed to produce yet another DVD/CD product from our 2009 project which will help propagate the project throughout the world and enrich the artistic content of Assyrian TV and radio channels worldwide. This time we managed to attract the department of film and TV production of the Modesto Junior College to help us with this ambitious undertaking.
10. We continued working with our pop singers to bring better quality performances to the community. In 2009 Lida Lawando and Emanouel Bet Younan had the opportunity to represent the Assyrian pop music to our audience. Our project commissioned the orchestration and arrangement of their songs for a larger orchestra.
For the Mesopotamian Night 2010 project we have already planned an ambitious set of goals:
1. The string quartets of William Daniel have already been given to Assyrian musician Sam Madoo to be prepared for performance.
2. The music compositions of late Alexander Sooren (a total of sixteen pieces) which were initially documented and scored by Assurhadoun Khofri have been commissioned to another musician for orchestration and score preparation.
3. A new project is initiated for the creation of an Assyrian operetta based on the folkloric tales of Shamiram and Ninous documented by Rabi Yosip Bet Yosip as a poetry piece.
4. More Assyrian classical composers have joined the Mesopotamian Night project. In 2010 two new young composers will be introduced to our community. The Mesopotamian Night project already has motivated more Assyrian talents to produce new works of music as they see an opportunity for their work to be premiered.
5. We will continue the completion of two operas (Gilgamesh and Qateeni) and the Gilgamesh Oratorio hoping that at some point in future we would be able to produce full Assyrian operas.
6. We will add more to the collection of our choir songs. Two important works of Nebu Issabey including the historical “Mar Benyamin Shamon Oratorio” will be orchestrated and performed in 2010.
7. We will continue to produce more quality pop music by our renowned pop singers. This year we plan to mesmerize our audience with songs from 70s and 80s with new instrumental arrangements.
Without contribution of our sponsors we cannot complete the above projects. It is critical that in the next three months we raise enough funds to complete all the composition and arrangement works. I am confident I can again count on your support and sponsorship.
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 “MN2010 Sponsor”.
Sincerely,
Tony Khoshaba
Assyrian Aid Society of America – Central Valley Chapter President