By Raffi Chilingirian

“What you played inside was so beautiful,” an elder in my church told me, making sure that I heard his assuring words before my departure. I’ve been playing the Armenian Duduk, an ancient instrument found by various names in the Caucasus, during prayer sessions within my church’s Sunday services. Feedback such as this has taken me by surprise to the extent that I began examining further the capabilities of this ancient instrument, particularly its ability to captivate the human soul and help open up people’s hearts to worship. I started to think whether this instrument, in particular, could be used in reconciliation sessions and if it could help people connect with each other in ways that words simply could not.

I first started seeing the duduk’s peacebuilding potential when I was invited to give a small concert in a cozy house-like coffee shop in al-Mina, Tripoli. I was not aware at the time, but looking back I could see the various kinds of people present there that had come from all walks of life. I couldn’t identify who belonged to which religious background, but everyone present could identify with the sound of the duduk, even when hearing it for the first time.

It was as if through my duduk music I was expressing the state of anguish that people had in their hearts and helping them express their exact feelings. Through the music that touched their pain, it was as though I could understand and empathize with what was inside their heart.

How can sound help people express themselves; moreover, how can sound help people change for the better?

The most remarkable example of this in the Bible is found in 1 Samuel 16:23 where it says:

And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

Saul is so agitated within his soul that he asks David to play the lyre. In the end, the lyre could help heal Saul’s disturbed soul, even if temporarily.

In speaking about the universal effects of music, care should be taken not to fall into syncretism and New Age theology. This is not what I am advocating for. On the contrary, real peacebuilding and reconciliation happen not by leaving out our religious convictions but by putting them on the table and bringing our whole self in contact with the other who holds another belief.

Throughout my research for this blog, I found several attempts that used music for reconciliation, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Columbia, in Lebanon, and in Turkey.

The Pontanima Choir of Sarajevo, founded in Sarajevo in 1996 by Franciscan Friar Ivo Marković and conductor Josip “Pepi” Katavić, comprises a religiously mixed group of musicians performing religious music from different traditions before religiously polarized audiences. The purpose of the ensemble is to model future possibilities of cooperation, mutual appreciation, and harmony across religious and ethnic lines.

In Colombia, Music for Reconciliation is Fundación Batuta’s most impactful program and is supported by a partnership with the Ministry of Culture; its goal is to provide opportunities for young people in 131 Batuta centers to learn, practice, and enjoy music from a socially conscious perspective. The psychosocial components and use of music for social transformation imply a desire for change in favor of dignity and the construction of relationships that enhance human coexistence. They advocate collaborative work, respect for difference, solidarity, responsibility, and the consolidation of interpersonal relationships based on positive treatment and mutual happiness.

The Lebanese Fayha Choir attempts to mingle both Islamic and Christian songs together for coexistence, mutual understanding and harmony in music. The award-winning Fayha Choir, comprising 50 young women and men from various religious and cultural backgrounds, led by Maestro Barkev Taslakian. The choir’s diversity of songs also reflects the unity and diversity of Lebanon.

The Bicommunal Chorus, which has one Turkish Cypriot, one Greek Cypriot conductor and volunteer members, carries out activities in support of reconciliation. The main objectives of the chorus are:

1. Support the two societies as they look out for each other and their culture and pass on their common culture to the new generations;
2. Be a role model for the idea of living a “common life in a common homeland” that will hopefully be a reality in the future through acknowledging differences and similarities and on the basis of mutual respect.

Can the duduk help Armenians soothe their deepest wounds while also helping Turks reconcile with their past atrocities? Because the sound of the duduk is a common emotional language understood by both Armenians and Turks, it is my assertion that the sound can help dissipate the many layered stereotypes and prejudices between the two communities and allow them to connect with each other at a base human level.

Christ calls me to love my neighbor as myself (Luke 10:27). The Lebanese have a hard time accepting the Syrians, due to the brutalities committed by Syrian intelligence in Lebanon. Many families still have sons and relatives who were taken to Syria during the years of occupation and have yet to return. Can music help remind the ordinary people in Lebanon and Syria about their common human values, without them necessarily putting aside the acts of governments, militaries and militias? I do not claim that I have the answer to such intricate and deep issues. However, this is the question that I seek to find answers to.

As I ponder the intersection between music, peacebuilding and faith, I would like to ask you, have you ever encountered music being used as a tool for reconciliation? Have your experiences challenged your religious identity and ability to accept the other?