Rania Khallaf joined aficionados of modern Palestinian music and clapped with respect and exuberance along with singer Reem Talhami For me it was quite marvelous to be able to delve back into my personal history to the days when, with my fellow university students, I sang and listened to Palestinian tunes, especially the songs of the famous Palestinian singer Marcel Khalifa and Abbad El-Shams children's choir, sponsored by the Palestinian Women Union branch in Cairo. These songs recall our passionate support for the people of Palestine, and not least, last week, Reem Talhami, with her soprano voice and the strong sense of Palestinian identity reflected in her performance on stage, is a perfect representative of today's Palestinian music. Last week's concert was the second in the programme of Hay concerts held every Ramadan by Al-Mawred Al-Thaqafi cultural organization on El-Genaina stage. Talhami was accompanied by her band, all dressed in black and comprising a pianist, guitarist and percussionist in addition to the Palestinian lute player and composer Habib Shehada. Talhami herself, wearing a short, black embroidered dress and trousers, resembled a busy black bird as she moved nimbly on stage. Her stage presence is powerful and entertaining, and her interaction with the audience makes for a theatrical performance while her facial expressions and hand movements are those of a lively and accomplished actress. Born in 1968 in Galilee, Talhami started singing when she was 17 but had little idea of the direction to take in order to become a professional singer. In the late 1980s she joined three other musicians to form a small band named Ghorba (Alienation), an expression of the four's own feelings of alienation in their homeland. The band produced several songs written by famous poets such as Mahmoud Darwish and Sameeh Al-Qassem, and went on to tour all over Palestine in such locations as Haifa and Ramallah before going on to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Later, when Talhami wanted to study music, her family would not allow her to leave the country, but in 1991 she made up her mind to study Western music academically at the Higher Institute for Music in West Jerusalem. In 1992 Talhami came to Cairo for the first time. Here she sang in a monodrama called Al-Oksh (The Grave Keeper) at the National Theatre. "It was my good luck that the prominent Egyptian composer Kamal El-Tawil attended one of the shows, and he admired my voice," she says. Late Egyptian critic Ghali Shukri once wrote that in many ways Talhami's voice resembled that of Lebanese singer Fairuz, and suggested that she should train in Cairo. She ignored the advice. "What happened was that I went back home and never came back until today," she told me when I interviewed her last week at the Flamenco Hotel in Zamalek. "And yes, I missed that brilliant chance to be trained by El-Tawil himself." Talhami's visit to Egypt opened up new horizons for her as a young Palestinian singer. Her next stop was Carthage in Tunisia. Since then Talhami has taken part in many international and Arab music festivals, including the Carthage Music Festival in celebration of 25 years of the occupation of Jerusalem. There she sang along with Egyptian singer Ali El-Haggar in a musical evening called Voices of Freedom. Soon afterwards she joined a band called Zimar, where she met her musical partner composer Shehada. She has also worked with singer Jamil Al-Sayeh, a relatively unknown Palestinian singer who is fast becoming one of the brightest talents in the musical scene of Palestine. "For me, it is not important to have a band with my name on it," Talhami says. "On the contrary, joining different bands has given me more experiences. I believe that the content and the value of my songs are much more important than having a band of my own." The style of her songs is varied and does not tag her in one category. "My music is not traditional. I love to sing classic Arabic music, but most of my songs are a blend of modern Palestinian songs; a composition of traditional Arab instruments like the lute and Western instruments like the piano and guitar. This produces a unique musical style that is more like jazz." Talahami, who is the mother of two daughters, lives currently in Jerusalem. Every couple of weeks she travels to Haifa two and half hours away to rehearse and work with the members of her band. "It is definitely hard to work and move to other Palestinian villages under the Israeli siege, but we don't have a choice," she says. "My singing is a way to struggle against the Israeli occupation of my country, and a way to confirm my Palestinian identity." The only album Talhami has produced so far is Ashiqa (A Lover), produced with the Washm band in 1994. "Although I have now been singing for more than 23 years I don't have but a single album, simply because there are no production companies in Palestine," she says. "Although my name is known in several Arab countries, it is near to impossible to find a single Arab producer enthusiastic enough to produce an album for a singer like me. "Arab music producers are mostly businessmen whose commercial aims are number one on their agenda. They would definitely be more enthusiastic to invest their money in producing albums for pop singers like Haifa Wahbi or Elissa, but they would never think of producing an album for a singer who sings Mahmoud Darwish's poetry!" she says with a note of despondency. "Moreover, Arab producers will never produce albums for a Palestinian singer who lives in Jerusalem, because we hold these Israeli identity cards. Sometimes I feel we are being punished for staying in our land. "But things are getting better. I have started to receive invitations from several Arab countries to perform at music festivals, including Bahrain and Tunisia." Addressing the audience last week at the Genina Theatre, Talhami said: "Thanks for coming today. I know most of you are not familiar with our band, but I hope we will meet more often." Among the many tunes Talhami sang were two by Fairuz and others by the great Egyptian singer Sayyed Darwish and from a traditional Tunisian repertoire. One of her greatest was " Wahed faeer elhal" ("One Poor Man"), composed by Shehada and dealing with the critical relationship between rich and poor in Palestinian society. She also sang a beautiful operatic song, "Ya'alo" ("Rising"), which she considers a turning point in her career. Equally brilliant is "Al-Ours" (The Wedding) , a traditional Palestinian wedding song. Talhami sways to the melody as she sings, and calls to the audience to clap and sing along with her, "Come on, and sing along," she repeats. One of the trademark projects in her career is Jedariya (Mural), a collection of poems written by Mahmoud Darwish and composed by Shehata. "This experience has added a dramatic dimension to my performance as a singer on stage," she says. "The performance was given at several international festivals, in Paris, Switzerland, Edinburgh, Syria, and elsewhere. It was first produced in 2004, and was performed for the next four years in several Arab and international venues. One of the most distinguished songs of the last week's concert was one of these Jedariya poems, "Khadrau Ardu Qasidati" ("Green is the Land of my Poem"). It was just marvelous to be reminded of the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish and of Palestine, and equally brilliant to be reminded of yourself, of your identity: Well, yes, we are Ar
