Loading ...Syrian musician seeks American dream
By Sean Yoder
Indiana Gazette
Nashwan Abdullah wants to be a composer. He said he also wants to be an actor, director and writer — and perhaps even continue his journalism career.
The 25-year-old Syrian is studying for his master’s degree in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania department of music. He escaped a war to get here and arrived in the U.S. with his violin, and little else.
Now, with just one semester remaining, Abdullah is trying to make ends meet. Levity Brewing will host a fundraiser concert tonight to help him raise the $1,800 he needs so he can pay his tuition, rent and afford basic necessities. Doors open for the concert at 6 p.m. with music to start at 7 p.m. All tips and donations will go toward Abdullah’s schooling.
Escaping the Syrian war 1 1/2 years ago was no easy feat. To make the initial money to travel to the U.S., he became a TV journalist in the most difficult environment there is to gather news: a war zone.
Abdullah’s stories are still on YouTube from when he worked at teleSUR, a Venezuelan-based TV channel. His brother got him the gig, and it took Abdullah into the offices of high government officials, into houses that had been hit by rockets and to hospitals where the injured were taken.
By some estimates, about 11 million people have been displaced during the conflict in Syria that is entering its sixth year. Millions of refugees have been pouring into surrounding countries and are seeking safety elsewhere. It’s triggered a massive humanitarian crisis and Abdullah was in the middle of it all, doing his best to tell audiences the truth of what was happening.
He worked for teleSUR’s English channel, and Abdullah said he learned his English from the likes of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. He and his two older brothers grew up watching their tiny TV at night after their parents had gone to sleep, wishing they could be the ones behind the lenses. He said his brothers would pick apart the camera work and observe how the movies were made. They also grew up on well-known 1990s TV shows such as “Friends” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
At first, they would watch with Arabic subtitles. Then Abdullah moved onto English subtitles and, eventually, no subtitles at all.
“Since I was a little child I dreamt of coming to America because of my love — and my two brothers’ love — of cinema,” he said.
The Abdullahs are a multi-talented family that have their hands in just about every type of art.
Nashwan himself has been playing the violin since he was 10.
His father, Asef, was a man of many disciplines; he was a writer, teacher, painter and poet and played music. He passed away four years ago.
His brothers Hazem and Rasem are also both of the artistic persuasion. Rasem was also a journalist but became a ballet dancer. He now lives in China and was married a year ago. Hazem, who now has two little girls, always wanted to be a director and eventually made his way into theater after also working in journalism.
Abdullah described his mother, Dujaina, who is a nurse, as the bedrock of the family and a tireless worker.
Some of his family is still in Damascus trying to cope with a war that has pitted Syrian against Syrian and in which world powers have interfered, trying to promote their own agendas.
In his reporting for teleSUR, Abdullah said he had to be very careful. Too tough of criticism on certain factions in certain places could have landed him in jail, or worse. Travel to some territories was dicey. He’s seen the business end of a gun and often no one on the street would talk to him while the camera was rolling. If they did talk, they often refused to give their names for fear of retaliation.
He said not much changed in his perspective during his time as a reporter. He only became more convinced that peace should be the only aim and became more aware that all Syrians were suffering.
Much of his reporting focused on the humanitarian crisis in the country. Though he will be 26 years old in just a couple of weeks, Abdullah said he feels like he’s 36 because of the things he’s been through. Five years of war and his father’s death greatly changed his life, he said
His journey to the U.S. truly started about three years ago. He applied for scholarships and was accepted at several universities in places like Melbourne, Australia, as well as schools in Cuba and Russia, which would have been much easier to get to from Syria.
But he pursued IUP because of his fluency in English and knew there would be good opportunities after he finished his schooling.
Of course, one must audition in order to be accepted into a music program. Electricity in Damascus was sporadic at the time, so he bought batteries to power his internet router and laptop and made sure everything was fully charged for when it came time to play. He auditioned via Skype, and again with a performance on YouTube.
However, he had to prove he had enough money saved before coming to the states and was disappointed, thinking he couldn’t make enough.
Months went by without interaction between IUP and Abdullah and he had nearly given up hope when Matthew Baumer, an associate professor of music history at IUP, contacted him again.
After Abdullah saved the money he needed, he quit the TV job, which was considered a great opportunity in and of itself. He moved to Indiana, leaving behind the war and his loved ones.
He couldn’t go straight to the U.S. from Syria, however. First he went to Lebanon, then to Turkey where he busked on the street for money for three months and said he was nearly homeless. He interviewed with the U.S. consulate in Istanbul to be allowed into the country and was finally granted permission.
Though he grew up in the large city of Damascus, a definite cultural hub of western Asia, he said he’s becoming attached to small-town Pennsylvania life.
He described Indiana as “real America,” and pictured something like this small town when he thought of moving to the states.
Here he has been able to find community support. He said he’s very thankful to his current landlords, Faye Bradwick and Don Lancaster, who he said “picked him up out of the sea” when he was struggling to make ends meet last year.
“I’m also getting help. Professors are patient with me, people are patient with me. I’m getting a lot of help from the Indiana community and the IUP community also.”
But he needs more time to keep composing. In May, his student visa will expire and he hopes to stay in the country and work.
“It’s just one year and three months for me in the states. I’m still fresh. It’s not easy.”
His composition is called “Time of Sand” and is inspired by the work his father did. Abdullah said it’s based on stories, poetry and people. A video of Abdullah playing “Time of Sand” with a string ensemble at IUP can be found on YouTube.
The fundraiser tonight at Levity Brewing will hopefully give Abdullah a little bit more breathing room and time to finish his last semester.
“I want people to be proud of helping me,” he said. “I came here to make it and I’m going to make it.”
