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9
IC Features
I
t came easy to Christina Khayat. The 16-year-old was just fid-
dling with the piano when the melody popped into her head.
The arrangement of her piece just fell naturally into place.
Before long, she had composed an entire piece and called it “
Dan-
delion
”. She felt, however, that it needed another instrument to play
along. Perhaps a violin?
Around the same time, Adel Ejjeh, in the seventh grade couldn’t
get a tune out of his head. He had made it up, even wrote the lyrics.
But somehow, he couldn’t find the right accompaniment chords.
There was only one place to turn to: the Composers Club.
Not that it is easy getting into the Composers Club. But students
keep trying.
“If they don’t have it, they don’t have it,” said music teacher, Ta-
tiana Bondarovich. “I have to say no.’”
Some do have ‘it’ and simply need guidance. Others have ‘it’ but
are essentially weak in their musical abilities and need to learn the
basics of rhythm, instrumentation, and note writing. Eventually,
they may produce a piece fit to be performed during Composers
Night concert.
Auditions are strict: the composed piece has to be
complete, lyrics typed, tune and melody line clear
and accompaniment in harmony.
“I listen to a melody that I may remember,” said
Bondarovich. “If I can remember it, even if it has no
form, it means it’s nice.”
Once students make it in, the work begins. Some-
times they work alone and sometimes in groups.
“Basically, we cannot write their compositions for
them,” said Randa Sabbah, head of the music de-
partment. “We help them do the arrangements, put
it together, and putting in the rhythm and suggest
ways to perform it.”
The number of students auditioning every year is
a far cry from the mere five students who showed up
to the club in 2003 when Sabbah and Bondarovich
first started it. The concert they gave that spring
was a hit. The next year over 50 students from the
middle and secondary school auditioned. Only 20
made it in.
Now in its fifth year, the club has become one of
IC strongest features. There is no lack of students
auditioning.
Fortunately, both Christina and Adel have “it” and
made it in. As did 11 other students.
For many, it’s an emotional outlet. After the Israeli
onslaught in July 2006, one student, Anwar Bizri,
used his composition to express his pent up feelings:
“Look outside my frosted window,
See the children dying, cold
I wake up one morning
I twist and I turn
Looking for a sign of life at the point of no return”
This year, May Obeid, shared her fears – the fears of all graduat-
ing students – to a spellbound audience.
“We won’t forget our past, our memories will last, it’s hard to say
goodbye. It’s hard to live alone, to manage on your own, it’s hard to
say goodbye,” she sang.
Some students who found their feet at the Composers Club went
on to record their own albums. Among them are Dana Hourani,
Yasmina Sabbah and Tina Yamout (performed a duet with Chris
de Burgh).
“It’s important for us not only to have interpreters (of music)
but people who compose,” said Sabbah. “We’re very proud to have
people who are so creative here at IC, it’s something.”
The Composers Club