From Damascus To Berlin

From Damascus to Berlin, an album that I produced in Germany for Nabil Arbaain, a Syrian refugee musician living in Berlin. Nabil has been a very import part of my research into music and migration. Nabil Arbaain is a Syrian composer and oud player from Damascus. His compositions are inspired by his memories of Syria and how those memories are carried with him throughout his travels. Together with musicians and musical styles from around the world, Arbaain has co-founded, composed for and played with bands and orchestras in Damascus, Beirut, Istanbul and more recently, across Europe. This is part of my project on Music and Migration. From Damascus to Berlin charts the experience of approaching an unknown destiny. After four months of having been separated from his oud for the first time in his life, Arbaain began to write the songs that now make up this album. The songs reflect the geography of his experience on the move, seeking asylum in Europe and the (re-)negotiation of the meaning of home. Including traditional Damascene songs as well as a new interpretation of Schubert’s Der Leiermann, the album is an archaeology of the many unknowns faced during forced migration and how music and memory create a new understanding of connection to place. Waldo Garrido.