Tunisia’s Musical Ambassador Amina Srarfi Conducts an All-Women Orchestra

By Delinda C. Hanley

Even before she was born, Amina Srarfi went on tour, when her Algerian mother accompanied her renowned Tunisian violinist/conductor father, Kaddour Srarfi. He was an international performer on radio and TV who traveled to five continents with his popular band, Rachida. It is therefore easy to understand why Amina Srarfi, raised in a family that made every occasion a musical, is determined to keep the name of her father, who died when she was 19, alive in the musical world.

The initial phase of her dream to continue her father’s legacy began in 1988, when Amina Srarfi opened a private musical conservatory in Tunis called Kaddour, after her father. Even children of five and six can enroll, and sometimes parents register with their children. “It is very important to start the discipline needed for symphonic orchestra early,” Srarfi explains, “and to begin long-term training. In Europe this is normal, in Arab and Muslim countries it is unusual.”

Phase two of the dream began when Srarfi sought performance opportunities for her students. It quickly became apparent that though many women study music in Tunisia, and many women are singers and dancers, there are not many performing women instrumentalists. Determined to make music a possible career instead of a hobby for ladies, she selected talented teachers and students from the national conservatory and her own Kaddour conservatory to form the first Tunisian all-women orchestra, which she called El Azifet. Now female music students can practice with a goal of some day playing in a professional orchestra.

Amina Srarfi is the first woman to conduct an orchestra in the Arab world. She admits that it was easier for her to break into this previously all-male domain because “everyone knew my father and our family of musicians. I had performed by myself and produced popular children’s programs on TV. The public already knew me. They believed in me and encouraged me.”

She did find, however, that conducting women was not an easy task, especially when some members of her orchestra had been her teachers. “But I soon earned their trust,” Srarfi said. “When I conduct I look at music, not age or people. They can see that I am doing this for the sake of music. The discipline of orchestra work is not easy.”

Srarfi does not often compose the music because, she says, “It takes a lot of time. I prefer to take other compositions. Besides,” she laughs, “people could say we were against men if we didn’t have our composer who is a man.” She does, however, often add her own interpretations to music. “In Middle Eastern music there are no nuances,” Srarfi says. “We sing the way we feel. The little nuances in Western classical music don’t exist in our music. I add some Western interpretations, nuances and changes of voices. Our audiences love it.”

Srarfi is 40 and admittedly married to her music. “Music is a gift of God,” she maintains. “When it comes, I just do it. Not everyone has this gift. I do the work I love. I’m sure it is good. I study everything, and watch it progress and evolve.”

In 1992 President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali gave Amina Srarfi a coveted award earned earlier by her father, Kaddour. “The president didn’t wait until I was an old lady to decorate me,” she explains. “He gave it to me now and it has inspired me to do my best.” Since 1992, Srarfi believes that Tunisian male musicians have had greater respect toward women musicians. She says the status of Tunisian women has evolved in the musical field just as it has in many others.

The El Azifet orchestra performs at least two concerts a month, and often visits three countries a year. Last summer the orchestra represented Tunisia in Portugal’s Expo ’98, the Festival of Jerash in Jordan and a small festival in Rome. Srarfi has fond memories of a trip to the Washington, DC area where the El Azifet orchestra performed at the National Museum of Women in the Arts and George Washington University. “We helped Americans discover what Tunisians are like,” Srarfi speculates. “Maybe they thought we rode camels in the desert sands. I was so proud to represent my country. I hope to return with the orchestra.

“I’ve always enjoyed traveling,” Srarfi says “For an artist to evolve, you must travel a lot. As I discover the world I can add things to my music that I learn from my travels.”

Musicians from other countries often visit Tunisia. “We invited female orchestras from other Mediterranean countries to join us in a concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the change, when President Ben Ali came to power,” Srarfi says. “Many countries didn’t have such a band, but we gave them initiative to form groups. Morocco, Bosnia, Greece, and Malta came together for an extraordinary experience. We showed that when it comes to music, we speak the same language. In the end all the women sounded Tunisian,” Srarfi said with a smile.

“I always say that the best messages can be conveyed through music,” Srarfi concluded. “We can bring the world together in a big mega-concert to draw attention to the environment, AIDS, and peace themes. Music can play a role in pushing the world toward a certain fine goal.”