Michael Ibrahim is busy building bridges .
迈克尔·易卜拉欣正忙着搭建桥梁。
But his bridges are not made of steel .
但他的桥梁不是用钢铁建造的。
And they do not cross rivers .
它们也不横跨河流。
Instead , they are made of music and cross cultures .
相反，它们由音乐构成，跨越不同的文化。
Ibrahim is the founder and director of the National Arab Orchestra (NAO ).
易卜拉欣是国家阿拉伯管弦乐团（NAO）的创始人兼总监。
The group is based in the state of Michigan .
该乐团总部设在密歇根州。
It aims to preserve and share Arabic music and culture in the United States through its performances and education programs .
乐团希望通过演出和教育项目，在美国保护和传播阿拉伯音乐与文化。
“We want to be an organization that is sort of the cultural representative of the Arab-American community ,” Ibrahim said .
易卜拉欣说：“我们希望成为一个类似阿拉伯裔美国人社区文化代表的组织。”
At an NAO concert , the orchestra quickly makes connections with its listeners .
在NAO的音乐会上，乐团很快就与听众建立起联系。
As the musicians begin to play , Ibrahim moves his body up and down like a dancer .
乐手们开始演奏时，易卜拉欣像舞者一样上下摆动身体。
Soon , audience members start moving to the music's rhythm .
很快，观众们也开始随着音乐的节奏摆动。
Suddenly , Ibrahim turns around and faces the audience .
突然，易卜拉欣转过身来，面向观众。
He urges them to clap their hands to the beat of the music .
他鼓励观众随着音乐的节拍拍手。
And he urges them to sing along with parts of a well-known song from Egypt or Lebanon .
他还鼓励观众跟着唱一首埃及或黎巴嫩名曲的部分段落。
With each song , the bridge between the audience and the orchestra grows .
每演奏一首歌，观众与乐团之间的桥梁就更牢固一分。
Ibrahim spoke about the need to help people know more about the culture of Arab-Americans :
易卜拉欣谈到有必要帮助人们更多地了解阿拉伯裔美国人的文化：
“The Arab-American community had to face a lot of discrimination , just because they're different , like any other minority community in this country .
“和这个国家的其他少数族裔社区一样，阿拉伯裔美国人社区仅仅因为与众不同，就不得不面对大量歧视。
He added that after the terror attacks of September 11 , 2001 , there was a lot of false information .
他补充说，2001年9月11日恐怖袭击之后，出现了大量虚假信息。
He said , “There is a huge debate on the meaning of the word , ‘Arab ’, and what is Arab culture ”
他说：“关于‘阿拉伯’一词的含义以及什么是阿拉伯文化，存在着巨大的争论”
And what is American culture if not just this giant melting pot of constant immigration into this country that makes it what it is ?”
而美国文化如果不是这个不断有移民涌入、造就了这个国家的巨大熔炉，又是什么呢？”
Ibrahim was born into a Syrian immigrant family in Michigan .
易卜拉欣出生在密歇根州的一个叙利亚移民家庭。
He said he was able to connect to his family's culture through music and the arts .
他说，他是通过音乐和艺术与家族文化建立起联系的。
When he was 10 , he spent a year living in Syria with his family .
10岁时，他和家人在叙利亚生活了一年。
Back in the U.S ., he learned to play the oud , a stringed instrument his father played .
回到美国后，他学会了弹奏乌德琴，这是他父亲演奏的一种弦乐器。
He then studied both Western and Arabic music .
之后，他同时学习了西方音乐和阿拉伯音乐。
The NAO started in 2009 as a student musical group at the University of Michigan under Ibrahim's direction .
NAO于2009年起步，最初是密歇根大学的一个学生音乐团体，由易卜拉欣指导。
Soon it doubled in size and became the Michigan Arab Orchestra in 2010 .
不久，乐团规模扩大了一倍，并于2010年成为密歇根阿拉伯管弦乐团。
It changed its name and began playing as the NAO in 2014 .
2014年，乐团更名，开始以NAO的名义演出。
In the 2022-2023 season , the orchestra played together at 12 events , including a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington , D.C .
在2022—2023演出季，乐团共在12场活动中演出，其中包括在华盛顿特区肯尼迪中心的一场演出。
Ibrahim noted that the group tries to represent all the countries of the Arab world today .
易卜拉欣指出，乐团努力代表当今阿拉伯世界的所有国家。
But he said much of the music they play comes from Egypt , Lebanon , Israel , and Syria .
但他说，他们演奏的音乐大多来自埃及、黎巴嫩、以色列和叙利亚。
The musicians in the orchestra are diverse .
乐团的乐手们背景多元。
Some were born in the Middle East and moved to the United States .
有些人出生在中东，后来移居美国。
Others are Arab-Americans born in the U.S . And some are from the U.S . but have no family connection to Arab countries .
还有一些是在美国出生的阿拉伯裔美国人。也有一些人来自美国，但与阿拉伯国家没有任何家族渊源。
The tonal and rhythmic patterns central to Arabic music are different from Western music .
阿拉伯音乐核心的音调与节奏模式不同于西方音乐。
So are some of the instruments the musicians play .
乐手们演奏的一些乐器也是如此。
Throughout almost every song , Arabic orchestras have musicians playing different kinds of hand drums and tambourines .
几乎在每首曲子中，阿拉伯乐团都有乐手演奏各种手鼓和铃鼓。
This gives the music a strong rhythmic feel .
这让音乐具有强烈的节奏感。
Two kinds of lutes , the oud and the buzuq , are among the instruments that help give the music its special sound .
乌德琴和布祖克琴这两种鲁特琴，是赋予这种音乐独特音色的乐器之一。
Ibrahim arranges the music that the orchestra plays .
乐团演奏的音乐由易卜拉欣编曲。
That means he writes down what each instrument will play .
也就是说，他要写下每件乐器演奏的内容。
Depending on the piece , this can take him anywhere from two weeks to two months to finish .
根据曲目不同，完成编曲可能需要两周到两个月不等。
One of the big goals of Ibrahim and its executive director , Sherri Richards , is to create a year-round school of Arabic music in the U.S .
易卜拉欣和乐团执行总监谢丽·理查兹的一大目标，是在美国创办一所全年开课的阿拉伯音乐学校。
“You have to share it with everybody ; you can't just keep if for yourself .
“你必须与所有人分享，不能只留给自己。
So that's the cross-cultural work ,” he added .
这就是跨文化的工作。”他补充道。
Along with concerts , another way the NAO shares its culture is with its Building Bridges Through Music program .
除了音乐会，NAO分享其文化的另一种方式是“以音乐搭桥”（Building Bridges Through Music）项目。
This includes an after-school program teaching Arabic music in the public schools of Detroit , Michigan .
其中包括一个在密歇根州底特律公立学校教授阿拉伯音乐的课后项目。
In January , the NAO concert in Washington , D.C . sold out in less than three hours .
今年1月，NAO在华盛顿特区的音乐会门票不到三小时就售罄。
Richards , the executive director of the NAO , said , “We have over 400,000 followers on YouTube , which is more than any other orchestra in the world …”
NAO执行总监理查兹说：“我们在YouTube上有超过40万名关注者，比世界上任何其他乐团都多……”
“That ,” she added “really speaks to the reach and the popularity of the music and the orchestra .”
她补充说：“这真正说明了这种音乐和这支乐团的影响力和受欢迎程度。”
Ibrahim explained that the arts bring people together in special ways .
易卜拉欣解释说，艺术以特别的方式把人们凝聚在一起。
“I guess there's a case to be made for the place of the arts in spreading democracy .
“我认为，艺术在传播民主方面的作用是有道理可讲的。
With the arts you have the ability to bring people from a variety and diverse geographical makeup . . .
借助艺术，你可以把来自各种不同地域的人们聚集在一起……
We've shown that for the last 15 years we've been doing it .”
过去15年来，我们一直在这样做，也证明了这一点。”
Ibrahim shared a central reason for supporting the arts .
易卜拉欣分享了支持艺术的一个核心理由。
“I think it's really important that people support the arts ,” he said , “because that's where the soul of humanity resides .”
他说：“我认为人们支持艺术非常重要，因为那里是人类灵魂的所在。”
And I'm Andrew Smith .
我是安德鲁·史密斯。