Iraqi musician, famous as “the violinist who defied Islamic State”, visits CT after 5-year visa battle
His home in Mosul was raided and his instruments destroyed as part of a crackdown on all music and art. His city’s captors threatened to slice his fingers to bleed out the “demon” that was making him play and compose music. None of this stopped Iraqi musician Ameen Mokdad from composing and recording. None of this stopped him from performing a concert atop ruins as shells exploded nearby him. None of this stopped him from becoming the “violinist who defied Islamic State” - a term coined by Reuters in 2017 in their coverage of Mokdad following the liberation of Mosul.
Before ISIS fighters discovered Mokdad and sent him on the run late in 2016, he managed to stay under their radar for nearly two years. Unbeknownst to them, he was composing a vast repertoire of music that would amplify their story of inhumane brutality. He occasionally managed to get to his uncle’s house, where there was a forbidden internet connection, to send off his compositions to other relatives in Baghdad. He wanted the true story of him and others like him in Mosul to be known through music, even if he didn’t make it out alive.
On January 24, 2017, after a long and brutal battle, Iraqi forces liberated Mosul from the grips of ISIS. Mokdad marched across the bridge that previously marked the boundary of the occupying forces, playing his violin the whole time. He began to perform amid the ruins of the city, even as explosions could be heard in the background and armed troops surrounded him. He had made it through, and his mission then became to use his music to tell his story and fight for cultural rights.
In 2018, Mokdad traveled out of Iraq for the first time, just across the border into Turkey. He went to work with a children’s music festival. His roommate at this festival just happened to be Connecticut resident Kevin Bishop. Bishop is director of a Connecticut organization called Cuatro Puntos, with the mission of uplifting musicians who have been silenced, persecuted, or underrepresented. Mokdad and Bishop quickly became friends, and they resolved to work together to further tell the story of Mosul.
Ameen decided to codify 18 of the songs, written during his years in hiding from ISIS, into an album called The Curve. He recorded this album (from afar) with Bishop and three other Connecticut musicians who are part of Cuatro Puntos Ensemble. The album, released on Arkadash Records, went on to catapult both Cuatro Puntos Ensemble and Ameen Mokdad into the top 7% of most listened to artists on Spotify by 2022, among many other accolades.
Shortly after meeting in 2018, Bishop also resolved to bring Mokdad to Connecticut, in person, to share his story and continue his work. They began the arduous visa process. A process that continued, with many failures and setbacks, for nearly 5 years. In the Fall of 2021 Ameen and Kevin partnered with Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet to embody the musical story with choreography by Elisa Schroth.
Now, in spring of 2023, Ameen Mokdad is finally coming to the United States for the first time- specifically to Connecticut. His tour, titled Ameen Mokdad’s The Curve, will take him all around the state to tell his story- now with the music not only played by Mokdad and Hartford’s Cuatro Puntos Ensemble, but with dance choreography by Middletown’s Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet. He will visit Connecticut schools and give talks with various organizations. He will also take up residence with the New London Community Orchestra for a full orchestral version of his work, presented in a tour grand finale at the Garde Arts Center in New London on June 15.
Ameen Mokdad’s The Curve will consist of 10 public concerts in 6 cities this May and June. Get your tickets now at www.cuatropuntos.org or www.ekklesiaballet.org
Cuatro Puntos
45 Church St., Hartford, CT 06103
www.cuatropuntos.org
CONTACT:
Kevin Bishop, Executive Director
(860) 498-3279 [email protected]
*interviews with Ameen Mokdad available upon request
Photos available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TmeHrIHcaVWwUK0ooI-Wmv3h2LuJbYDL?usp=share_link
Ameen Mokdad playing in the ruins of Mosul in 2017, photo credit: Moyasser
Before ISIS fighters discovered Mokdad and sent him on the run late in 2016, he managed to stay under their radar for nearly two years. Unbeknownst to them, he was composing a vast repertoire of music that would amplify their story of inhumane brutality. He occasionally managed to get to his uncle’s house, where there was a forbidden internet connection, to send off his compositions to other relatives in Baghdad. He wanted the true story of him and others like him in Mosul to be known through music, even if he didn’t make it out alive.
On January 24, 2017, after a long and brutal battle, Iraqi forces liberated Mosul from the grips of ISIS. Mokdad marched across the bridge that previously marked the boundary of the occupying forces, playing his violin the whole time. He began to perform amid the ruins of the city, even as explosions could be heard in the background and armed troops surrounded him. He had made it through, and his mission then became to use his music to tell his story and fight for cultural rights.
In 2018, Mokdad traveled out of Iraq for the first time, just across the border into Turkey. He went to work with a children’s music festival. His roommate at this festival just happened to be Connecticut resident Kevin Bishop. Bishop is director of a Connecticut organization called Cuatro Puntos, with the mission of uplifting musicians who have been silenced, persecuted, or underrepresented. Mokdad and Bishop quickly became friends, and they resolved to work together to further tell the story of Mosul.
Ameen decided to codify 18 of the songs, written during his years in hiding from ISIS, into an album called The Curve. He recorded this album (from afar) with Bishop and three other Connecticut musicians who are part of Cuatro Puntos Ensemble. The album, released on Arkadash Records, went on to catapult both Cuatro Puntos Ensemble and Ameen Mokdad into the top 7% of most listened to artists on Spotify by 2022, among many other accolades.
Shortly after meeting in 2018, Bishop also resolved to bring Mokdad to Connecticut, in person, to share his story and continue his work. They began the arduous visa process. A process that continued, with many failures and setbacks, for nearly 5 years. In the Fall of 2021 Ameen and Kevin partnered with Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet to embody the musical story with choreography by Elisa Schroth.
Now, in spring of 2023, Ameen Mokdad is finally coming to the United States for the first time- specifically to Connecticut. His tour, titled Ameen Mokdad’s The Curve, will take him all around the state to tell his story- now with the music not only played by Mokdad and Hartford’s Cuatro Puntos Ensemble, but with dance choreography by Middletown’s Ekklesia Contemporary Ballet. He will visit Connecticut schools and give talks with various organizations. He will also take up residence with the New London Community Orchestra for a full orchestral version of his work, presented in a tour grand finale at the Garde Arts Center in New London on June 15.
Ameen Mokdad’s The Curve will consist of 10 public concerts in 6 cities this May and June. Get your tickets now at www.cuatropuntos.org or www.ekklesiaballet.org
Cuatro Puntos
45 Church St., Hartford, CT 06103
www.cuatropuntos.org
CONTACT:
Kevin Bishop, Executive Director
(860) 498-3279 [email protected]
*interviews with Ameen Mokdad available upon request
Photos available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TmeHrIHcaVWwUK0ooI-Wmv3h2LuJbYDL?usp=share_link
Ameen Mokdad playing in the ruins of Mosul in 2017, photo credit: Moyasser