Music Please

Aboud Kaplo loves music.  But growing up in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo and then as a refugee in a Syriac Orthodox monastery in Lebanon meant the 14 year old had to teach himself how to play the violin by watching YouTube videos and practising on a toy.  Not anymore.  Now the teenager is able to practise using a 19th century, German-made violin, which belongs to an Oxford University collection of historic instruments.  The turnaround in fortunes is all down to a chance encounter between the boy and a film-maker.  It was when Susie Attwood was making a film about Syrian Christian refugees in Lebanon, that she first met Aboud.  On learning about his passion for music, but his lack of a means to express it, Ms Attwood got in touch with her old university, as she explains “Life is very difficult for Syrians living in Lebanon, but seeing how music provides such hope for someone like Aboud is very moving.  I couldn’t just let it go”. Andy Lamb, curator of the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments which holds over 2,000 historic and modern instruments, picks up the story, “I immediately had an instrument in mind.  It belonged to a former curator, Dr Helene Larue, a very generous person, and I knew that if she had been confronted with this situation, she would have donated an instrument instantly. The violin is not rare or ancient enough to be regarded as a precious resource, but it’s significantly better than a cheap modern factory instrument, and it’s entirely the kind of instrument we would lend to a student here at Oxford”.  As for young Aboud, he said he “cannot express by words how I feel – I’m so happy, so excited.  Playing the violin helps me express my feelings. I want to go on to study music and play on a big stage and travel the world.”  Remember the name Aboud Kaplo.