CHICAGO—The National Headquarters of the Nation of Islam, Mosque Maryam, was graced by the magnificent sounds of the Nation of Islam Musical Ensemble’s “Sounds of Harmony” on September 28 in Chicago.
It was the third stop on the ensemble’s national tour after their debut in Detroit during the Nation of Islam’s Saviours’ Day convention in February of this year.
“All of you were so great; we have a talented family among us, and I want to encourage you to keep going and inspiring others to pick up an instrument and let’s make the Nation of Islam Symphony Orchestra a reality!” Minister Farrakhan stated after the Detroit performance on Feb. 25.
Classical music, of which some of the selections were original compositions arranged by some of the young performers, filled Mosque Maryam. Each piece left the audience in awe. Standing ovations and thunderous applause followed many of the selections.
One of the original compositions performed, “The Moon,” was composed by Henry Leon Akbarkhan Muhammad. Brother Akbarkhan plays the violin, piano, and guitar, and has written several original compositions. The audience was so captivated by “The Moon” that an encore of the score was requested.
Making the evening more special were the video excerpts played throughout the evening of Minister Farrakhan speaking about his musical experience and clips of his violin performances.
Minister Farrakhan has spoken on how his love of music, the violin in particular, stems from his mother, Sumayyah Farrakhan’s introduction of the instrument to him as a young boy. His brother Alvan was introduced to the piano.
The orchestral members performed a variety of selections.
Sister Khadijah Y. Muhammad, a trained soprano singer, performed Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” in honor of Mother Sumayyah Farrakhan. Sister Khadijah’s voice was beautiful and images of Mother Sumayyah were shown during her rendition.
Brother Farrad Muhammad is a composer and music director. He composed the Nation of Islam’s first-ever composition for the official song, “The Fight Song.” The audience took part in this portion of the program by singing along to the words printed in the official program book.
Student Minister Abdul Muhammad and his wife, Sister Niambi Muhammad had three children who performed, Sister Sajdah (cello), Sister Khalilah (cello) and Brother Abdul Malik (violin).
“This ensemble is historical and to me it gives purpose to what they have studied all these years. We have always desired to be the best, so we have always strove for that.
We never wanted to be in just anyone’s orchestra, so the NOI Music Ensemble is an answer to our prayers. We would rather perform for our Nation as opposed to performing for other people,” said Sister Niambi.
Student Min. Abdul and Sister Niambi’s oldest child, Brother Abdul Karriem Muhammad, composed the song, “Avenger,” which the ensemble also performed.
“I was a young Muslim in the Nation of Islam and I had always appreciated Minister Farrakhan’s vision. I already had a musical background, but I was even more inspired when learning that Minister Farrakhan was a musician.
Having this opportunity to travel around the country to different mosques is even more inspiring and this gives my children another perspective of the Nation of Islam and what it represents for the liberation of our people,” Sister Niambi added.
“I think tonight was a really great performance, a really good showcase,” said Sister Vivian Mosley, who performed as piano accompanist for the ensemble that evening. She began her studies at age five and is pursuing a Master of Music at the University of St. Thomas.
There is a team that works diligently in the development and training of the young musicians and arranging the tour schedule. Sister Helen Eli Muhammad,
N.O.I. Musical Ensemble Concert Tour Coordinator; Sister Cassandra R. Muhammad, Arts and Culture Ministry and N.O.I. Musical Ensemble Talent Coordinator, Brother Farrad Muhammad, composer; and many more, including the talented musicians and their families.
October 14, 2024
Audience members enjoyed the performances.
“I think it is really beautiful that our young people are doing great things, and they are not playing the average instruments. You can see the emotion in these young performers and how focused they are. I think Minister Farrakhan is awesome, and I enjoy visiting the Mosque,” stated Sister Tonya Lucas.
“I absolutely loved the performance, and everyone was so professional and so well gifted. You can tell that they are continuing to hone their craft, they are excellent performers, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
It is wonderful to see young and Black performers playing classical music. It is definitely inspiring,” said Sister Arnelle Brown.
“This is an absolutely wonderful night of culture and music, it is beautiful,” stated Sister Zenobia X.
Bertina Power is the sister of N.O.I. Student National Secretary Sa’ad Alim Muhammad. “I was invited by my brother, Sa’ad, and I definitely enjoyed every moment.
This event was awesome, to have these young people present such greatness. The evening was fantastic, enriching, enlightening, and it was a great way to spend a Saturday evening.
I thought showing clips of Minister Farrakhan playing the violin was a great intertwining of the performances. It was a blessing to see Minister Farrakhan play the violin and without music in front of him, that is a gift,” she said.
“You can really tell a tree by the fruit it bears, and the children of God witnessed tonight a great representation of that. The acoustics in the building, the amount of emotions that it brought the crowd, you can tell that it not only took discipline but Allah was present.
The performers’ ability to play in unison spoke volumes to what Allah is trying to establish,” stated Brother Wali Abdullah.
“It was life-changing,” said 16-year-old Suraiya Spraggins. “It inspired me to want to play the violin more because I used to play and now, I want to play again.”
“Tonight’s performance was outstanding,” said Afrika Porter, a community advocate and supporter of the N.O.I. Musical Ensemble. “I think it’s amazing, and to hear Abdul Karriem was one of the composers—I’ve known him since he was born!” she said. “It’s healing music,” Sister Afrika Porter added.
“I thought it was absolutely wonderful. It was very inspiring to know that there are people my age who are very talented like I actually want to know how to play the cello now,” said Awa Muhammad, who was visiting from Atlanta. For more information, visit noimusicalensemble.org.
Final Call Staff Writer Tariqah Muhammad contributed to this report.
(Shawntell Muhammad can be contacted at [email protected].)
