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Innovating Your Antagonistic Assets
The players of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq were epic social entrepreneurs before it was cool. Not because we turned a profit (we didn’t), or monetarised our social return on investment (we...
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PODCAST: Here's the Most UPBEAT News from Iraq
Chris Smit & I talk about doing business globally & in Iraq Bashdar & Chia with Iraqi and Kurdish flags, Greyfriars Kirk, EdinburghClick to hear us:CULTURE MATTERS episode 58My three tips...
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Coming Up for Air in Iraq
Dobbs Hartshorne, our Bass Tutor, playing for refugees at Save the Children KurdistanAs an artist, the quality of my life is tied to how deeply I dive into the creation of a work of art, in this case...
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Iraq's Foundations Finally Crumble under its own Corruption
As Iraqis stormed the Government buildings in Baghdad's Green Zone today, chanting anti-government slogans and protesting in a largely peaceable fashion for an end to corrupt sectarian politics, I look...
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Max's Antarctic Diary
Mike Merritt, a journalist pal and long time friend of Max, rang me up last night to thank me for putting the Four Essays by Max online. Afterwards, my memory was jolted by another lovely piece of...
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European Union Youth Orchestra stops playing in September
For years, I’ve personally known how tough it is to fund and sustain the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, so this shock news from one of Europe’s leading musical institutions is heartbreaking. You can...
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The Bookseller: Caroline Sanderson interviews me on UPBEAT
A musical memoir of overcoming the odds in the Middle East hits all the right notes, says associate editor Caroline SandersonIn October 2008, fresh from high-profile stints with orchestras in Armenia,...
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Gay Times: We're fighting a war not on love, but with love
Paul MacAlindin, former conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, explains why solidarity between LGBT and Muslim communities is essential in the aftermath of the Orlando gay nightclub...
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Discord and harmony: how a youth orchestra flourished in Iraq against all the...
A wonderful review of UPBEAT: the Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq The National, UAE, by James NcNair.Original article released 28.7.16 Like many great stories, Paul MacAlindin’s account...
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A Tale of Two Orchestras: Palestine & Iraq
Palestine Youth OrchestraBetween 2009 and 2014, I was the conductor and artistic director of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. I first got involved when in 2008 I responded to a newspaper headline...
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True Grit
UPBEAT amazon.com UPBEAT amazon.co.ukSitting on a bed in an Iraqi hotel room in 2009, waiting for my first radio interview about the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, I picked up the phone to a BBC...
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Playing for Time - interview with Iraq Solidarity News
The following interview was conducted by Hussein Al-alak, editor of Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra), with Paul MacAlindin, who is the author of the new book Upbeat, the Story of the National Youth...
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Iraq's national youth orchestra: an improbable story on a heroic scale
Philip Clark of the Spectator reviews UPBEATNow that even candidates for President of the United States can rise up from the undead dregs of reality television, it comes as no surprise to read that the...
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How British Musicians will be shafted by BREXIT
The fallout from the BREXIT referendum is, as yet, unclear. But what is clear is that the UK is fracturing, recession is likely and the EU sees BREXIT, quite rightly, as an act of political...
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Gay Times interview with me on NYOI
Back in 2008, Scottish conductor Paul MacAlindin set out to become the maestro of Iraq’s first ever National Youth Orchestra.With the country attempting to heal wounds from seemingly never-ending...
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Where are they now?
As the Kurdish independence referendum comes up on the 25th September, and Blue Ocean Shift, released on the 21st, case studies the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, here’s a brief summary of what the...
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Global Blue Ocean Shift Award
I'm here in Kuala Lumpur two days after receiving the first Global Blue Ocean Shift Award from Najib Razaq, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.Blue Ocean Shift (2017) is the outrageously successful...
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The Glasgow Barons - Year Zero (the long read)
The Glasgow Barons are the world's first professional orchestral ensemble for helping rejuvenate an area in trouble, in this case, Govan, the ship-building district of Glasgow, Scotland.Govan, Ward 5...
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Serenades of Govan Old
Ainsley HamillThe opening concert of The Glasgow Barons in 2018 is finally upon us. On Thursday 3rd May, we begin our three-concert arc, Serenades of Govan Old, in Govan Old Parish Church, with Ainsley...
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The Govan Renaissance & The Glasgow Barons
Some pics from Thursday. Come and hear us again on 22nd June in Govan Old Parish Church for STRAMASH!Ainsley Hamill sings Songs of Govan Old part 1. Parts 2&3 are on 22nd June and 26th JulyDavid...
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Musicians in Exile
With the second of the three Govan Old Parish Concerts successfully done and dusted last Friday, I'm turning my attention to the next Glasgow Barons project, Musicians in Exile, which starts on Monday...
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Culture Summit Abu Dhabi - Day 1
09:30 – 10:10 Opening Panel: Cultural Diplomacy and Responsibility in the Age of New TechnologyModerated by HE Zaki Nusseibeh, Minister of State, UAESpeakers:HE José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,...
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Culture Summit Abu Dhabi - day 2
09:30 – 10:15 Representing the world: How can the media drive change?Moderated by John Prideaux, US editor, The EconomistSpeakers:Neha Dixit, Independent Journalist, IndiaCarolina Guerrero,...
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Culture Summit Abu Dhabi - day 3
09:30 – 10:15 What are the new frontiers?Moderated by John Prideaux, US editor, The EconomistSpeakers:Amar Bakshi, Founder, Shared_StudiosMaher Chmaytelli, Head of the Middle East and North Africa...
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Music in the Time of COVID: first steps
distributing gift-tech at Govan & Linthouse Parish ChurchSince UK lockdown on the 23rd March, orchestras all over the world have been trying to grapple with the new reality. Many are finding...
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