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Viewing cable 06TUNIS753, American Diplomat Builds Bridges of Understanding

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TUNIS753 2006-03-30 12:51 2011-08-24 16:30 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tunis
VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0753/01 0891251
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301251Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0281
UNCLAS TUNIS 000753 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG (GERMAIN, LAWRENCE), NEA/PD (SMITH, AGNEW), 
ECA (ROMANOWSKI, SCHUMAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO OEXC OPRC SCUL SOCI TS
SUBJECT:  American Diplomat Builds Bridges of Understanding 
through Music 
 
Ref: A) State 31478 B) Florence 27 
 
1.  Summary.  During a March cultural program funded by the 
ECA Performing Arts Initiative and organized by Tunis PA, 
Embassy Political Officer Brennan Gilmore helped score a 
significant public diplomacy hit through his musical 
collaboration with Tunisian musician Riadh Fehri in a group 
called "Kantara," or "bridge" in Arabic.  This 
collaboration, which included the musical talents of 
Gilmore, Fehri, three other young American musicians, and a 
Tunisian percussionist, was influenced by traditional 
Tunisian and Arabic music and American bluegrass melodies 
and rhythm and featured original music by both Gilmore and 
Fehri. The result was an exciting harmonious fusion of sound 
and culture that built a bridge of understanding between the 
United States and the Arab world.  This collaboration 
resulted in unprecedented positive press coverage of an 
Embassy event, with reports in almost all of the Tunisian 
print press and interviews on Tunisian television and radio 
that highlighted the "harmony" of the mix of diplomacy and 
culture and praised the genre-defying new Arab-Appalachian 
sound.  End Summary. 
 
What is Kantara? 
-------------------- 
2.  Political Officer Brennan Gilmore, a former professional 
musician, met renowned Tunisian oudist and composer Riadh 
Fehri shortly after his arrival in Tunis in May 2005.  Fehri 
has long been interested in fusion music and has worked with 
other American artists sponsored by the US Embassy in past 
years.  Gilmore, Fehri, Lasaad Hosni, a famous Tunisian 
percussionist, and three other young American bluegrass 
musicians (childhood friends of Gilmore) formed a new 
musical group known as "Kantara" (or bridge, in Arabic). 
This new group brought together traditional Tunisian and 
Arabic music and traditional Appalachian music in a way that 
synthesized the talents of the artists and the musical 
traditions that had formed them.  Thanks to a grant of $6200 
from the ECA Performing Arts Initiative (Ref A), Tunis PA 
was able to bring the three American musicians to Tunis to 
perform in Tunis and in Sousse in March 2006.  The group 
also performed in Florence to large appreciative audiences 
(Ref B). 
 
3. The three American musicians, Ann Marie Calhoun, Zack 
Blatter, and Brian Calhoun are childhood friends of Brennan 
Gilmore and preeminent musicians in their own right.  Ann 
Marie Calhoun is one of the most talented American 
violinists of her generation, blending a master's ability in 
classical music with years of bluegrass and old-time 
fiddling.   She has won numerous awards in fiddle contests, 
has appeared at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy 
Center, recently recorded with the multi-platinum Dave 
Matthews Band, and is currently touring with Jethro Tull. 
Zack Blatter studied music theory at the University of 
Virginia and toured the United States with a variety of 
musical ensembles.   Brian Calhoun studied at the Berklee 
School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and co-founded the 
bluegrass band "Walker's Run" with Gilmore.  A talented 
craftsman of guitars and mandolins, he is part owner of the 
acclaimed Rockbridge Guitar Company. 
 
Public Diplomacy Coup 
----------------------------- 
4.   Kantara made its debut in Tunis on March 10, 2006, when 
they played to a packed, enthusiastic crowd at the Municipal 
Theater in Tunis and to rave reviews in the press.  This 
collaboration, highlighted at a joint press conference at 
the US Embassy, was very well-received by the Tunisian media 
who rewarded the musicians with the most positive and far- 
reaching coverage of an Embassy program that we have seen in 
years.  Ten Tunisian newspapers and magazines reported on 
Kantara while both of the Tunisian television stations 
(Channel 7 and TV Hannibal) ran pieces on the group, 
including interviews with Gilmore and Fehri.  Both of the 
private radio stations and one of the government radio 
station also ran spots on Kantara, with two of them 
featuring interviews with Gilmore and Fehri. 
 
5. The media coverage spanned almost one week and focused on 
the use of music as a bridge between peoples.  Many papers 
were particularly admiring of Gilmore's status as an America 
diplomat.  As one journalist wrote, "In the end, we swear 
that if all diplomats in the world had artistic or musical 
expertise on their resumes, certain difficult issues between 
states would have a proper resolution.  With art and with 
style.  That is utopia.  We will console, ourselves for the 
moment, with this type of concert." 
 
6. Praise for the groundbreaking new genre of Arab- 
 
Appalachian music was also forthcoming in the press reviews: 
Kantara "succeeded in sowing joy throughout the audience by 
offering a display of jubilant art to make us forever forget 
hatred. We spent an hour and a half of happiness." ("Le 
Quotidien")   Kantara "knows no borders" and "has created a 
program which departs from the ordinary and allows a harmony 
between different types of music which one might believe 
impossible." ("Le Temps")   "The music is a dream, binding 
by its accord, the fluidity and lightness of its notes and 
rhythms, and the solid complicity between the Tunisian and 
American instrumentalists."  ("La Presse")   A sampling of 
the headlines are provided in para 10. 
 
Walker's Run Event in Sousse 
------------------------------------- 
7.  In addition to the Kantara concerts at the Tunis theatre 
and a well-received concert/reception at the DCM's 
residence, the American musicians, appearing as the 
bluegrass group "Walker's Run," spent a day at the Higher 
Institute of Music in Sousse.   During the day the musicians 
gave group and individual workshops to over 200 students, 
explaining and demonstrating traditional American music 
styles and having Tunisian students play along.  The 
afternoon workshops ended with an hour long jam session, 
alternating between Appalachian and Tunisian songs, often 
combining the two.  In the evening, Walker's Run performed a 
concert for the assembled student body, plus the director of 
the Institute and the President of the University of Sousse. 
After performing traditional and original material for 
nearly an hour, the American musicians invited their 
newfound Tunisian friends on stage for a show-stopping half 
hour jam, again integrating American and Tunisian music. 
By the end of the performance many students were dancing on 
their chairs, while the invited dignitaries stood in 
ovation. 
 
Comment 
------------ 
8.  In a highly controlled media environment that is 
restricted by both government control and by some anti- 
American sentiment, it was noteworthy that even those 
newspapers who rarely print Embassy press releases and 
otherwise refuse to print positive articles on the United 
States lauded Kantara. Even though Embassy Tunis frequently 
sponsors American musicians in Tunis, this is the first time 
that we have seen such wide and positive coverage of an 
Embassy event.  It would appear that the presence of an 
American diplomat on stage, reaching out to Tunisians 
through music, was the variable that made the difference in 
capturing the "hearts and minds" of the journalists and the 
Tunisian public alike.  Not to mention that the genre- 
defying music itself was universally praised by both 
Tunisians and international concert attendees. 
 
9.  Embassy Tunis would like to extend a special thanks to 
ECA for its generous support to this important initiative. 
We hope that this particularly successful program, which 
highlights American culture at the same time that is shows 
the positive possibilities of Arab-American cultural 
cooperation, can be replicated throughout the NEA region and 
other areas with significant Arab-Muslim populations. End 
Comment. 
 
Sample headlines 
--------------------- 
10. Sample headlines from the Tunisian press include: 
 
 "La Presse" (government owned daily, circulation 42,000): 
March 8 "A bridge between diplomacy and music" March 12 "An 
American dream and stars in their eyes" 
"Le Temps" (privately owned daily, circulation 25,000): 
March 9 "Search for harmony via a bridge of song" March 12 
"Kantara: for a musical reconciliation" 
"Le Quotidien" (privately owned daily, circulation 25,000): 
March 8 "Bridge of love" March 12 "Kantara: A good recipe: 
Two Tunisians and four Americans succeeded in sowing joy on 
all levels in offering us a joyous are to help us forget 
hatred" 
"Le Renouveau" (government owned daily, circulation 27,000): 
March 21 "Between Medjerda and the Appalachians" 
"As Sabah" (privately owned daily, circulation 25,000): 
March 8 "Press conference: Riadh Fehri announces the 
Tunisian-American Kantara show and promises the public a big 
surprise during next summer" 
"Al-Horriya"  (government owned daily, circulation 35,000): 
March 9, 2006 "Kantara show in the Municipal Theater: Music 
expression without borders!" 
"As-Sahafa" (government owned daily, circulation 35,000): 
March 9, 2006 "In a press conference held by the Tunisian- 
American group Kantara:  an innovative mixture between 
 
different types of music. Music bridges to open up horizons 
of dialogue and communication among people." 
HUDSON