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| Fez
Morocco - Festival des musiques sacrées du Monde (Fez Festival of World Sacred Music) |
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| The city of Fez, Morocco, is the perfect place for the Festival of World Sacred Music. The ancient walled city takes pride in its artistic and intellectual heritage, and especially the centuries of peaceful coexistence of its communities of Christians, Jews and Muslims. That's why it's the home to the most diverse musical gathering in the world, bringing together the spiritual music of religions worldwide. The top sacred music artists from Middle Eastern and Western religious communities gather in Fez for a week of concerts, lectures, exhibitions, and intellectual and artistic exchanges. Performances have included the Sufi Whirling Dervishes of Turkey, Berber trance music, Arab-Andalusian music, Hindustani chants, Celtic sacred music, Christian Gospel, flamenco, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Morocco. These musicians, young and old, are a part of a groundbreaking effort to bridge huge cultural differences through musical expression. Styles of spiritual music at the Fez Festival vary from transcendent to trance-inducing. Music can claim to hold curative properties, convey religious teachings, praise God, or channel the spirit of the deities. Some music traditions are centuries old, while others are relatively new; some are serious, and others joyful. But despite the vast differences between the cultures, everyone at the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music has come for one reason: to share the way that music allows them to commune with their higher power. This year's Festival highlights include the spirituals and gospel hymns of the Abbey Lincoln Quartet, Luzmila Carpio belting out the sacred chants of the Bolivian Andes, and the raw power of Sister Marie Keyrouz, a French-Lebanese nun who lives in Jerusalem. When the music subsides, musicians and attendees head for the conference activities that include cultural film screenings and lectures on topics religious and musical. Art exhibitions and presentations offer another forum for expression of spirituality. Many of the people who attend the concerts of the Fez Festival are wealthy Moroccans, though a bunch of Western tourists enroll in planned tours or just show up and dish out the roughly $300 for a one week pass to Festival performances. The king of Morocco has been known to attend the performances, which have been staged in the royal palace reception court, the Moorish Palace, the Bat'ha Museum and even at the nearby Roman ruins of Volubilis. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies are a little more expensive, but they're worth it--they're usually the most spectacular. Once a center for Islamic scholars, Fez is a hauntingly beautiful city that has changed little from the Middle Ages (except for the advent of electricity and tourists). It's hard to navigate the city's unmarked, labyrinthine streets and to deal with all the people hassling you. On your first day you'll probably want to enlist the help of a guide to seek out the numerous souks, mosques and merdersas (Quranic schools). There are two options available: the aging djellaba-clad "official" guides who will immediately shuffle you into their cousin's carpet store, or the young, Ray Ban-clad "student" guides who are technically illegal but are often highly entertaining (and who ultimately shuffle you into their cousin's carpet store). So when pop culture starts oozing out of your pores or corporate life gets a little too corporate, a jaunt to the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music might be just want the doctor ordered. After all, we can all use a little more spirituality. |
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