Jim Garrett¶

I became interested in the music and dance of the Balkans and the Middle East in the late ’80’s. I attended Balkan Music Camp organized by the East European Folklife Center numerous times, learning to play (at least at a basic level) a number of Bulgarian instruments: the Thracian gaida (bagpipe), tambura (plucked string instrument), gadulka (bowed instrument), tapan (large two-headed drum), and doumbek (or darbuka, not specifically Bulgarian). My wife Betsy and I moved to the Boston area in 2012, and I began taking private violin lessons with Beth Cohen, with whom I continue to study Ottoman classical music and Makam theory. I studied composition of Ottoman music with Ross Daly at a 5-day workshop organized by Makam New York. I play with the Tufts Arabic Ensemble.

I also do racial justice work with White People Challenging Racism, so named because racism is a social construct that only White people can dismantle. My area of interest is Islamophobia. I organized Naafizah to raise familiarity with an aspect of the Middle East that is beautiful and neglected in the mainstream press, and to play the music I love with others.

Naafizah began as a weekly percussion workshop series for parents and children, and also ad-hoc instrumental workshops, in preparation for the Melrose public iftar in 2017.

Nate Faro¶

I play viola and violin with Naafizah. My background is in classical music, and I have degrees in composition and musicology from the University of New Hampshire. I also have a background in social justice activism, particularly in issues facing the queer community. I have always been most interested in new musical experiences, By the time I started playing with what would become Naafizah, it fulfilled a need to directly engage with social issues through music, something decidedly different from the insular environment of musical academia. Learning and playing Turkish and Arabic music widens my musical perception, while affording me the opportunity to help share it with the Melrose community. Music is special in that the performance of a piece of music can be, for what it represents, as powerful as words. For Naafizah, performing this music is itself a powerful weapon against Islamophobia. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to play such wonderful music, and to celebrate the cultures represented therein.

Outside of Naafizah, I play regularly with the Melrose Symphony Orchestra and at Melrose’s First Congregational Church. I also write about new music for American Record Guide.

Betsy Garrett¶

Jim and I met over a shared love for Balkan music, coming to it first through Balkan folk dance and then playing traditional instruments. I played Bulgarian kaval for several years but when I developed joint issues in my fingers, I switched to doumbek and tar (frame drum). I also play American roots music on clawhammer banjo.