An interview with Gabriele Jebran Yakoub - Founder of the Music Sail Festival, Lefkada

Sal Ionian are proud to be the main sponsor of the Sail Music Festival

– Translated from an Interview with aftodioikisinews.gr - Interview by Makis Moschovoudis

Gabriele Jebran Yakoub – Leading manufacturer of musical instruments, with a musical education and similar studies, sailor, initiator and creator of the Music Sail Festival in Lefkada, and above all, a true friend of Greece 

Gabriele; tell us briefly about your background? 

I was born in Saint Petersburg, my mother is a cello teacher and soloist, my father is an engineer; a hydrogeologist. 

I started studying the cello from the age of 4 with my mother, and from the age of 11, alongside the cello, I began to study how the violin is made and repaired. I had the opportunity to have a musical career with great musicians around the world and play at many festivals. 

I started my education in Saint Petersburg in Russia and Damascus in Syria. Then I found myself in Paris (France) and moved to Cremona, Italy at the age of 18. During my training I traveled between the US and the EU. 

One of my life's achievements was the West Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, where I participated as a cellist, violin maker and arranger. 

Since 2005 I am mainly in Berlin where I have my workshop and organize cultural events for different institutions. I have a wide range of cultural activities with many Russian orchestras such as the Mariinsky Theater, the Bolshoi Theater, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Baikal Stars Festival with Denis Matsuev and the Easter festival with Valery Gergiev. I collaborated with many artists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Y oyo M a, Daniel Barenboim, Misha Maisky, Aidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Valery Gergiev,Yuri Temirkanov, Denis Matsyev, Helmerson Frans. 

Also, with the former vice president and artistic director of the MAESTRO Foundation (Cremona), the Angelo del anno club , Valerio Boldi in Crema (Italy ), the Mare nostrum club , the Telluride music Festival, the New names Foundation in Moscow and the current artistic director of the SpeVivere Foundation and head of the Music SailbInternational Festival. 

You are a cellist, a graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. What is your artistic path from your first steps until today? 

I would like to correct you. I studied at the Higher Institute of Music and Theater in Damascus, but because of the Soviet era, the education model was Soviet and the teachers there were from the Soviet Union. 

As I said earlier, I started studying cello with my mother Olga Yakub at the age of 4 and I was lucky to grow up as a musician with many great cellists and musicians from all over the world, such as Valery Volkov, Rasim Abdulaev, Andreas Greger, Federico Romano, Steven Balderstone, Yoyo Ma, Daniel Barenboim. 

I have also been lucky enough to play at the most important music festivals around the world such as BBC Proms festival, White Nights festival in St Petersburg, Telluride music festival, Apple Hill music festival, Sleswig Holstein festival , Menton festival, Viva Cello festival . 

I performed in many concert halls such as Royal Albert Hall, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Staatsoper Berlin, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Victoria Hall, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall, Teatro Della Maestranza, Hermitage. 

As a violin maker I started at the age of 11 in Saint Petersburg and Damascus, then I moved to Paris (France) and received my main training in Cremona at the Antonio Stradivari Higher Institute of Violin Makers, where I worked and organized many cultural activities. 

Then, parallel to the above, I started my professional life also in Berlin in my workshop and worked with Daniel Barenboim as a violin maker for the Staatsoper and the Daniel Barenboim foundation in Berlin and the Barenboim -Said foundation in Seville. 

I am currently working with many international music festivals and organizations, such as the White Nights Festival, the Baikal Stars Festival and Spectrum Concerts in Berlin.  

In addition to being a musician, you are considered one of the world's best instrument makers. When did you start and for whom have you made musical instruments? and to what extent has the art of construction contributed to the artistic development of cellist Gabriel? 

Thank you for your kind words! I don't consider myself the best violin maker in the world, but I truly love my profession and when I started studying violin at the age of 11, I was very lucky to study with the most famous violin makers in the world. 

I would say that being a violin maker has helped me a lot as a musician to grow and understand the physiology of my instrument and how to get the best sound out of it. 

As a violin maker I have many great musicians I worked with and collaborated with such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Michail Maisky, Frans Helmerson, Gidon Kremer, Daniel Barenboim, Michail Barenboim, Yoyo Ma, Valery Gergiev, Julian Rachlin, Philipe Quint, Natalia Gutman, Natalia Shakhovskaya , Alexander Ramm, Alexander Ramm, Bungero , Samuel Magad, Narek Haknazaryan, MaximRysanov, Alina Ibragimova, Kristov Barati, Janine Jansen, David Geringas, Denis Matsuev, Michaela Martin, Spectrum concerts in Berlin, Gaede Trio, Atrium Quartet, Trio solisti New York. 

I think it is necessary to inform our readers that an additional quality characterises you. That of the sailor. You have a great love for sailing. I want to know, is there anything that connects music, the making of musical instruments and sailing, three occupations in which you even indulge yourself with great success? 

Yes! There is a very important connection and parallel between the sport of sailing and the bowed stringed instrument! The way in which maximum performance is obtained from the sails of a boat and the way in which the best sound is produced with the bow of a stringed instrument have exactly the same physics and philosophy! The way the wind blows the sails and you "tune" your sails give you the same feeling as touching the string with the bow, in the right place and at the right speed, so that the harmonics of a violin or viola or cello or double bass: the physical laws are almost the same. 

You have a special love for Greece, especially Lefkada. You have said that you feel the island as your second Homeland, which you have been visiting continuously for the last 20 years. I know that you are the creator of the Music Sail Festival that takes place on the island. I want you to tell us at length about this festival, but also about the combination of sailing and music. 

Greece is one of my favorite countries. Very often I feel Greek from my father's side, since my father's roots are from Istanbul, so the traditions of my father's family, the food, the music, even the traditional clothes are almost the same. 

I have many close friends in Lefkada. The local Kurti family is like my family, they care for me and I care for them. In Lefkada I feel 100% myself, and since I care about this island and have very strong international cultural ties, especially with famous artists, I decided to find a nice way to introduce Lefkada and the Ionian Islands to the international world through of my music festival. 

The Music Sail Festival, in my opinion, is an excellent platform, where it can contribute to the development of Lefkada and Ionian tourism businesses and help local Greeks with talent to receive professional music training in important international music festivals and schools. These world-famous musicians are coming to sail with me to Lefkada, to play at my festival, to enjoy the beauty of Greece and to make an international notification and advertisement of Lefkada and the Ionian Islands. I would like to emphasize that all my festival guests feel at home in Lefkada! Magical people and magical sea! 

What are your future plans for the festival? What do you expect? How much will it strengthen the cultural and touristic life of Lefkada and the wider Ionian Islands? 

The second part of the question was answered above. My plans for the future of the festival are to invite new famous musicians to show the island, enjoy the sea and give locals and tourists the opportunity to enjoy high quality music. 

Can this particular festival be listed among the major international festivals, making Lefkada even more attractive? 

This year will be the third year of the Music Sail Festival, and it was made possible thanks to the main partner and sponsor of the Sail Music Festival; Sail Ionian Yacht Charter. 

They love the island, and love the music, and the Sail Ionian team is one of the most professional in the field. 

Also, I would like to note that all the famous artists of my festival performed in this festival for free, with charity for this island. 

Also, I would like to thank Dorpfeld club for the great help and friendship and some companies like Lefkas Boats and Maraboo restaurant for participating in our festival. 

I would also like to thank the municipalities of Lefkada and Kefalonia for the great help they offered me. 

To say that this festival can be one of the biggest international festivals in the world is down to us, our sponsors and a local help. I'm sure it's not unlikely, but even if it won't be one of the biggest and stays small, the festival will still do its mission, that is, it will promote the tourism development of the island! 

What is your cooperation with local and regional authorities? 

I am in contact with the municipality of Lefkada and the church of Lefkada and last year we met with the mayor Kalos and worked out our plans for this season. Also last year we had a charity concert in the Red Church and created a good contact with the church. 

We had a very nice experience working with the archeological association Dorpfel  and its president, Ms. Eleni Verykiou, we also have good contact with many local businesses including restaurants and tourist offices and as I mentioned we work with the local company Sail Ionian, who are also the main sponsors and our partners. 

What will this year's festival include? 

This year, it is the third year of Covid, and due to the world situation, it is not easy to invite musicians, and it is not easy to travel, as our musicians pay from their own pockets for travel tickets. 

We are planning to invite the Rastrelli Cello Quartet from Germany with 4 cellos the world guitar star Dimitri Illarionov and the soprano Irina Polivanova, in addition to the participation of the composer Dimitris Nanos, who lives between Greece and Russia. 

Our main goal is to do a charity concert for Peace, at the former military base in Lefkada, to invite guitarists from Greece and to do a concert with the cello and soprano group. The cultural department of Kefalonia collaborates with us for two concerts, one in Sami and another in Fiskardo. We are also planning a concert in Lefkada in a church or resort, it all depends on local help. 

What message do you want to send to Lefkada, to your friends on the island, of which I know you have many, to the local authorities and to the people of the island in general? 

Link to the original article below:

This post was written by Tom Fletcher