John Nazarian: From the Hafla Stage to the Halls of Academia
John Nazarian: From the Hafla Stage to the Halls of Academia
 |
| John Nazarian, 1968. Courtesy of the Rhode Island College Review, vol. 17, Fall 1968. p. 12. |
Only a few musicians we’ve featured on Midwest Mahjar were still alive at the time we embarked on writing their profile. Several of these have died in the last two years, Lila Mazloom, Fadwa Abeid, Laurice Peters, have all passed on during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, others, to our knowledge, such as Emil Kassis and Lila Stephan, remain with us. Among the living middle-period musicians from the latter 78 rpm era, was oudist John Nazarian.
Zakie Nazarian and Amenia (Nahas) Nazarian had John Nazarian 6 September 1932 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. John was one of his father’s eleven children. Zakie Nazarian, a half Arab and half Armenian emigrant from Aleppo, immigrated to the United States from Ottoman-controlled Greater Syria in 1912. He married Selma Nahabit on 3 May 1916 in Manhattan, New York. Zakie and Selma moved to Rhode Island, which had approximately 1,100 Syrian and Lebanese residents in communities spread out between Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, Warren, and Woonsocket. The Nazarians settled in Pawtucket. After ten years of marriage, Selma died and Zakie remarried, this time to Amenia Nahas. Selma had given birth to some of Zakie’s children, Amenia the others. Amenia was only a few years older than Zakie’s oldest son. In all, Zakie’s children included Fabian, Michael, Sippi, Mary, Fred, Joseph, George, John, twins Mae & June and George.
Pawtucket Syrians founded Saint Basil Melkite Catholic Church between 1907 and 1911 and eventually two Saint George’s Orthodox Churches which resulted from the Russy-Atacky split after the 1919 Russian Revolution. Amenia Nahas Nazarian was the daughter of Rev. George Nahas pastor of Saint George’s that aligned with the Russy faction. Some two dozen Syrian Muslims also called Pawtucket home by 1910.
By 1940, when John was only eight years old, Zakie owned his own carpet and rug import business. As early as grade seven John demonstrated an interest in music and began playing violin in the school orchestra. John continued on in orchestra throughout his four years at Pawtucket East High School., earning himself the nickname “Maestro.” He also served on the yearbook staff as business manager, held membership in the French Club during his sophomore and junior years, and became its president as a senior in 1949-1950. The combination of his grades and leadership development earned him a place on student council and the Rhode Island Honor Society. Classmates voted him “Most Ambitious” and “Best Scholar.” Around this time, John began to frequently play at local hafla and mahrajan in Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Providence, Rhode Island. He hoped, however, to go to the New England Conservatory of Music to study as a concert violinist.
Placing third in a competitive scholarship competition meant John Nazarian would attend Rhode Island College to study mathematics rather than the violin at NECM, outside of school on the hafla and mahrajan circuit, he played violin, but switched to primarily oud. In fact, Nazarian recalled an instance when after finishing a song on the violin for Sami al-Shawwa, Sami smacked his hand with a violin bow and chastised Nazarian for giving up the violin.
Sami al-Shawwa (1889-1965) was born in Cairo to Antoun and Louisa Shulhut Shawwa. Antoun came from a long line of violinists beginning with his great grandfather, Joesph, his grandfather, Elias, and his father. As an eight year old, Sami picked up the violin and took to it like a fish to water despite his father's reported opposition. Sami credited his mother with encouraging his musical pursuits. People hired Sami to play private parties by the time he turned eleven he and his family moved between Aleppo and Cairo. Before his twentieth birthday, Sami accompanied nadha era musicians including the elder Mohamed el-Akkad and Youssef al-Manialawi. He toured parts of Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East with notable stops in Istanbul and Tehran. Shawwa first visited the United States in 1927 with singer Edma Marrache. He toured for eight months from October 1927 to July 1928. During his first US tour, Columbia University hosted one concert and the Egyptian Embassy held the other two. The Chicago World's Fair beckoned Sami Shawwa in 1933, although he managed to squeeze in a concert for 200 plus in Brooklyn. Mahjari audiences in the United States would not hear Sami live again until 1953. In the twenty years in between, Sami toured South America, played over British radio, but did not return to the United States until 1953 along with Mohammed al-Bakkar. Sami's stay from 1953 to 1955 affirmed his place as one of the Arab World's leading violinists and introduced him to another generation of musical listeners and friends.
For most of his first and second years at Rhode Island College, John Nazarian joined the Charles Carroll Club and the Choir, he also attended the annual Music Educators National Conference, and participated in a song contest, and campus stunt night talent show. By his junior year, he balanced his active campus social life with his growing popularity at mahrajan and hafla. On August 9, 1953, during his junior year, John joined Amer & Sana Kadaj, Naim Karacand, and Mike Hamway at the Saint Anne’s Roman Catholic Church of Paterson, New Jersey, annual mahrajan. Less than a month later, Nazarian performed alongside Najeeba Morad, Mohammed El-Bakkar, Fadwa Abeid, and Philip Solomon at the Original Lebanese Labor Day Weekend Mahrajan in New Haven, Connecticut. By spring of his senior year in college, Nazarian jammed with Amer & Sana Kadaj, Philip Solomon, Mosa Kalooky, and Mike Hamway at the Syrian American Citizens Club, Inc. Ladies Auxiliary anniversary at Swiss Hall in Union City, New Jersey. Meanwhile, Nazarian kept up with his undergraduate study and he graduated with his Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1954.
 |
| A 1954 photo of John Nazarian as an undergraduate at Rhode Island College. He decided to study math instead of music. Rhode Island College Yearbook (1954), p. 51. |
Nazarian felt at home on college campuses and by Fall, 1954, he enrolled at Brown University in nearby Providence; his presence within the state and regional hafla and mahrajan circuit continued. Perhaps his biggest gig to date was the November, 1954, Young Men of Saint Nicholas annual hafla, Nazarian, along with a who is who line-up of Arab American musicians performed including Eddie Kochak, Naim Karacand, Philip Solomon, George Hamway, Mike Hamway, and Abe Mesadi were all there to play. Early the next year, Hanan, Philip Solomon, and Charles Kahla, appeared at the Elks Auditorium in Pawtucket for an evening of music and dancing organized by Saint Basils Catholic Church. Several gigs in the summer assured Nazarian additional pay on top of his job as a mathematics instructor at his alma mater Rhode Island College. Alongside Fadwa Abeid, Najeeba Morad, Mohamed El-Bakkar, Emil Kassis, Philip Solomon, and Mike & George Hamway, Nazarian played the northeast’s biggest mahrajan in Pawtucket during Labor Day weekend. He even squeezed in a special performance with Charles Kahla to celebrate Mrs. Jamela Tahmoush’s 30 years of teaching at Saint Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church School. The year 1955 ended with a New Year’s Eve Party sponsored by the Central Falls Aleppian Society and Ladies Auxiliary with fellow musicians Karem Fayan and George David.
Over the next few years, while still enrolled in graduate school where he prepared to be a math professor by day and a musician by night. Nazarian formed a musical troupe that performed at a number of celebrations at the Saint Mary's Orthodox Church in Cambridge, the Saint Basil's CYO concert series event in Central Falls, the Saint Theresa Maronite Churches mahrajan in Brockton, Massachusetts, to accompany Sadie Melad, and a benefit concert for the Rhode Island Order of the Near East along with Philip Solomon, Michel Akkaoui, and Charles Kahla. The quartet earned $700 for the Rhode Island Order of the Near East in August, 1957. Of course the billed Gigantic Gala Hafla in February, 1958 brought Karawan, Philip Solomon, Charles Kahla, and the newly returned Jack Ghanaim together in Pawtucket. When the Nile Restaurant hosted an event in August 1957, Sadie Melad, Joh Nazarian, Joe Saliba, and John's twin sisters Mae & June Nazarian performed.
 |
| In 1957, John Nazarian's twin sisters, Mae & June performed with him at the Nile Restaurant. Courtesy of the Pawtucket East High School Yearbook (1953). |
Hafli and mahrajan-related engagement made up the majority of gigs Nazarian played, but he also performed at private events and the blossoming array of Middle Eastern themed night clubs. The the Central Falls Aleppian Society and Ladies Auxiliary invited Nazarian back for its annual New Year's Eve festivities to ring in 1958. Union City, New Jersey's Club Zuccarro hosted Nazarian and Charles "Chick" Kahla more than a few times in 1957 and 1958. Charles Kahla and Nazarian also expended their repertoire when they joined the cast of a 3-part play, "Affair of Mohammed Nazzar,"sponsored by the Rosary and Altar Society at Saint Basil. Joe Saliba, Sadie Melad, and Nazarian reunited at the Society of Our Lady of Annunciation annual mahrajan in Boston in the summer of 1959.
 |
| Ad for the 1953 Original Lebanese Mahrajan, it would eventually move to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. John Nazarian made billing along with Najeeba Morad, Mohammed El Bakkar, and Fadwa Abeid. Caravan, September 3, 1953. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
Despite having played with nearly every well-known Arab American musicians of his generation, John Nazarian only ever appeared on one commercial recording. Distributed on a Mikel Akkaoui's personal/vanity label and recorded at RLM Recording Studio at 79 Chesnut Street in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, the 7" 33 1/3 RPM disc includes two songs: 1) “Keef Budee Inseh” and “Ya Ahmi Ya Jamal.” Both were composed and arranged by Akkaoui and Nazarian played an oud accompaniment. The two sides appear to have been recorded between roughly 1963 and 1964.
 |
| Rare copy of Akkaoui Record. Courtesy of Richard M. Breaux collection. Michel Akkaoui "Keef Budee Inseh," https://youtu.be/ZhGchpsYpGc Michel Akkaoui, "Ya Ahmi Ya Jamal." https://youtu.be/aM0Y6u7sOh8 |
The musical side of Nazarian’s career began to slow down by the 1960s as he turned his attention to his academic and professional career. With degree from Rhode Island Colleges (1954) and Brown (1956), Nazarian pursued an additional masters at the University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana (1961), and a doctorate degree from NYU by 1967. Appearances became much more rare, for example an 1961 event for Saint Basil’s with Kahraman, Mohammed El-Akkad, Philip Solomon, and Michael Abbott grabbed headlines. The 1960s closed with an annual Mahrajan in Danbury, Connecticut, in 1965, featuring Anton Abdelahad and John Nazarian. The mahrajan returned to Danbury in July 1968 and reunited Nazarian with musicians old and new including: Hanan, Anton Abdelahad, Hakki Obadia, Mohammed El-Akkad, George Hamway, and John Hyder.
 |
| Flyer/Ad for the 30th Anniversary New England SOYO in 1958 included Mohammed El Bakkar, Philip Solomon, and John Nazarian, Caravan 1 May 1958. Courtesy of Newspapers.com |
Beyond the world of music, Nazarian labored as an Associate Professor and served as vice-chair and chair of the Arabic Educational Foundation. Beginning in 1967, Nazarian completed his doctorate degree at University of Illinois and received a promotion to an Associate Professor until 1971. During roughly the same period, Nazarian held the office or vice chair or chair of the Arabic Educational Foundation, 1968-1972. According to the Arabic Educational Foundations site, their mission is to “offer financial assistance to high school and/or college students of Arab American descent that are enrolled as full-time students in an accredited institution.”
John Nazarian reached the pinnacle of his professional academic career in the 1980s and 1990s; yet he incredibly made time to perform at the occasional hafla and mahrajan. Most notably, by 1983, Nazarian stood six years into his position as vice president of administration and finance at Rhode Island College. That year, Nazarian backed an older, but still incomparable Kahraman, newly established Near Eastern Music Ensemble founder and vocalist/oudist Simon Shaheen, and Joseph Zaroura, at the July 17, 1983, mahrajan at Saint Ann’s Catholic Melkite Church in West Paterson, New Jersey. Seven years later, Rhode Island College selected Nazarian as its president (he’d serve until his retirement in 2008) and Simon Shaheen released his The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab on Polygram, the same year.
In 2000, Rhode Island College named its performing arts building the John Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. By the time of his retirement from academia, Nazarian had been the longest serving president of Rhode Island College. Although he retired from academia in 2008, his last public music performance was in 2013 in Naples, Florida. Today, Nazarian is retired, still does educational consulting, walks for twenty-five minutes per day, reads, and is actively involved in the Melkite Church. We spoke to him by telephone two days before his 90th birthday.
Special thank you to John Nazarian, PhD.
Richard M. Breaux
© Midwest Mahjar
Comments
Post a Comment