Author: Arlington Chorale
The Arlington Chorale recently put on an event for Afghan families featuring holiday music and crafts. Believing that music can be a vehicle for creating community engagement and understanding, the Chorale strives to build community through music. We took some traditional holiday songs like “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and performed them with the tabla, a traditional Afghan percussion instrument. Hamid Habib Zada, a local Afghan musician who moved to the DMV area in August 2021, played with the Chorale on several pieces and also performed a solo on tabla for the families. We had several crafts donated from Child’s Play! A local toy store in Arlington, and several children’s books for new English learners were donated from ReadEarlyAndDaily. The leftover books are being stored by Peace to be given out to any Afghan families who come seeking assistance. Children had the opportunity to make crafts with the Chorale’s Youth Community Council, play several percussion instruments with us, and engage in fellowship with both our youth and adult singers. We are very grateful that Peace Lutheran gave us the space to hold this event!
