Muslim community and Loyalist flute band creating harmony through music
Loyalist flute bands and the Muslim community are two groups that may appear not to sit well together. There is however at least one thing that they both have in common – due to negative stereotyping they both receive a great deal of hostility.
Since the beginning of this year, the Shankill Road Defenders Flute Band (SRD) has been working with Beyond Skin, an organisation that aims to unite different cultures and traditions through music and the arts. On 11 May the SRD played alongside artists from a variety of cultures, including Muslims in “Night to Unite”.
John Higgins, the SRD conductor, noted that the majority of the members of the band unhesitatingly wished to take part, seeing the occasion as a great opportunity to change negative perceptions of Loyalist flute bands. In many ways, the event symbolised the progress Northern Ireland has made in welcoming diversity. On Culture Night Belfast, 18 September, Beyond Skin and the Centre for Democracy and Peacemaking will be working again with the SRD to present Music Unite – a performance by the SRD and international musicians.
As part of Community Relations and Cultural Awareness Week, a touring presentation called the Unexpected Journey has been developed between the SRD and a Kurdish (Muslim) musician.
Both have experienced animosity in relation to their cultures and this event will showcase and explore the insight the SRD has gained from working with musicians from various cultural backgrounds, including a discussion about the empathy shared between the SRD and the Kurdish musician. The presentation will also show how, through working together, they have gained a positive insight into each other’s culture.
The SRD first formed in 1957 and it is a melody flute band. The SRD have been All Ireland Champions and even marched on the fields of The Somme in France for the opening of the Somme Orange Memorial Obelisk.
By Adam Henry Magee.
Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre, Limavady; Friday 2 October 2015, 7.30pm
Originally published by CultureHUB, October 2015.
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