13-year-old piano prodigy from Los Angeles performing with Iraqi orchestra

13-year-old US pianist playing with Iraq orchestra

BAGHDAD — A 13-year-old piano prodigy from Los Angeles made a rare guest appearance with the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra in Baghdad on Saturday as the city struggles to revive its once-vibrant cultural scene.

Llewellyn Kingman Sanchez Werner, who studies piano and composition at New York’s renowned Juilliard School, arrived in the Iraqi capital Friday for the first time with his mother and father and admitted he was a little scared.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Llewellyn told The Associated Press in an interview, describing his heavily guarded trip past blast walls, concertina wire and checkpoints on the way from the airport to the city’s Rasheed Hotel in the heavily protected Green Zone.

“I’ve never had a bulletproof vest on before and a helmet and all this protection,” said the slim, energetic teenager with long, wavy brown hair and a warm smile. “Honestly, before I got here, I was a little scared. But as soon as I arrived, I felt safe in a way.”

He says he has been following the news and knows he is in a war zone, but hopes he can “break ground” with his performance Saturday evening at the Rasheed.

“Music is a way to connect. I’d like to bring Americans and Iraqis closer together,” he said. “I’m excited to make a difference. It’s a wonderful orchestra playing music against all odds.”

Llewellyn is playing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and a piano concerto by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

The teen’s father, Llewellyn Werner and his California-based private investment firm have been working in Iraq alongside the U.S. Department of Defense for three years. He met the conductor of the Iraqi orchestra and proposed that his son come over to play with them.

“My son leaped at the opportunity enthusiastically,” he said. “He came here with absolute fearlessness because he believes the music brings down barriers.”

Karim Wasfi, the chief conductor and director of the orchestra, joked about the difficulties of getting 90 musicians and their instruments through multiple checkpoints in the dangerous city.

“I am amazed how easy it is for bombs to move around Baghdad and how difficult it is to transport musical instruments,” he quipped.

The national orchestra collapsed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq when musicians fled to neighboring countries. But Wasfi reconstructed it in 2005 with 50 musicians and it has now grown to 90.

He said he wanted to keep Iraqi musicians from fleeing sectarian violence during the war.

“I did not want to see them play in bars and at weddings in neighboring countries,” Wasfi said. “I was looking for ways to make them stay.”

“Even at the height of the sectarian violence, I convinced members of the orchestra to play and practice,” Wasfi said. “We’ll perform no matter what happens so people have a sense of normalcy.”

They perform twice monthly in Baghdad and do concerts around Iraq, but Wasfi said the orchestra has never had an American guest performer.

Cultural life in Iraq has largely died down during violence and reviving it was not the government’s priority. But that is slowly changing.

The government has allocated $120,000 for the orchestra’s operational budget and approved the building of Baghdad’s Opera house. The national theater is being renovated.

“I have decided not to let the political and security situation affect our dedication to restoring Iraq’s cultural life,” Wasfi said.

Wasfi’s guest performer has traveled extensively around the world to perform, his parents said. Last year, he played a private concern in Rwanda for the president’s family.

Llewellyn was fascinated with music from a very young age and began learning piano at 2. He composed his first piece at 5, and began college studies at the same age, his parents said.

He debuted with an orchestra as a piano soloist at age 6 and was also a full-time college student taking advanced music theory courses at that age.

He has a college degree in music and is about to complete another. He is finishing up his third year at Juilliard.

His mother, Martha Sanchez Werner, said her son did not hesitate, and neither did she, when the chance to play Baghdad surfaced.

“I have and I believe my son has a very strong sense of social commitment,” she said.

Her son also has strong opinions on the U.S. role in Iraq.

“I don’t want to be shallow. I know there are strong feelings out there,” he said of the Iraqis.

“Several mistakes from my country have been made in terms of invasion and occupation. But me being here today is one way to show the U.S. has a lot of wonderful things to offer.”