Sandstone Press Ltd, Dochcarty Road, Dingwall, Ross-shire IV15 9UG Saltire Society Publisher of the Year 2014
‘Be prepared to laugh, cry and - above all – to discover music’s power to overcome seemingly irreconcilable differences and create harmony out of chaos.’ -Julian Lloyd Webber ‘The great adventure of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq deserves not only to be recorded for posterity but also to serve as an example of how the essential can survive catastrophe.’ - Sir Peter Maxwell Davies
Upbeat by Paul MacAlindin •
BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, 15 August *
Publication date: 18th August £19.99 hardback 9781910985090 ‘Iraqi teen seeks Maestro:’ Musician and conductor Paul MacAlindin was eating fish and chips in an Edinburgh café in 2008 when he first read the story in the Herald newspaper – Iraqi teen seeks Maestro. That Iraqi teen was the astonishing Zuhal Sultan, who dreamed up the idea a National Youth Orchestra of Iraq aged only 17. Paul was intrigued. Barely out of war, with no discernible orchestra tradition that he knew of, what could there be to work with? Paul wondered. What instruments did they even have? How could it be that we in the west had heard so much about war and bloodshed in Iraq, but know so little of who the Iraqis really were? Fixated on the article, fish trembling at the end of his fork, Paul simply said to himself, ‘I know how to do this.’ The following year, after auditions via skype, a promised of a bespoke piece by the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, favours called in, massive logistical complexities and financial hiccups, they ran their first summer school. And so the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq was born. In a few short years this group of young musicians came through the most difficult and dangerous times to produce fine music, not only in Iraq but also Britain, Germany and France. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of their favourite Ruth Killick Publicity Catbrook Ltd Abbey Lodge, Tintern Monmouthshire NP16 6SF 01291 680319
Sandstone Press Ltd, Dochcarty Road, Dingwall, Ross-shire IV15 9UG Saltire Society Publisher of the Year 2014
composers was Beethoven – a composer who knew plenty about troubled times. Upbeat is the story of Paul and the orchestra he helped create. How do you pull together a diverse orchestra of both Arabs and Kurds (not natural colleagues), all young musicians many of whom are self-taught, and lack proper instruments (or play ones that buckle in the 45 degree heat)? All of whom have suffered immensely from tyranny and war? And perhaps most crucially of all, how can you make beautiful music when you are living through hell? Paul MacAlindin discovered from an early age that he loved being an artist leading artists. As a musician, dancer and all-round performer, he found his voice through conducting, a passionate journey that has led him to work with orchestras and ensembles all over the world, from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to the Armenian Philharmonic to the Dßsseldorf Symphoniker. Paul lives in Glasgow and is available for a limited number of interviews.
For further information of if you would like to interview Paul MacAlindin, Please contact Ruth Killick, (+44) 7880 703741, publicity@ruthkillick.co.uk or Hallam Girardet, (+44) 1291 680319 hallam@ruthkillick.co.uk
Ruth Killick Publicity Catbrook Ltd Abbey Lodge, Tintern Monmouthshire NP16 6SF 01291 680319