Yahya Mhirssi and Fatma Souf are a married couple from Tunisia, continuing their musical aspirations as graduate students at ETSU. While the pair have received scholarships to attend the university, the remainder of their expenses were left needing to be paid during their time in the U.S. due to Tunisia’s financial state.
“I would call it a financial crisis,” says Mhirssi. “We don’t want to ask our parents to send us money anymore.”
“Even if it’s good money in Tunisia, it’s not sufficient here,” added Souf.
Mhirssi went on to explain, “Actually the average of what a person makes in Tunisia is, I think it’s around 700 dinars per month, which is like 200 dollars.”
Mhirssi and Souf have already performed over 100 concerts in Tunisia. They expressed a passion for using their concerts in Tennessee as an opportunity to mix classical music styles with traditional Tunisian styles, as well as sharing their culture through outfit changes and making connections from what we know in Tennessee to what is known in Tunisia. They noted how they love to hear the music, but it is also important to them to “hear the performer.”
“Because usually the concerts are just like, someone who comes on stage and plays,” notes Souf, “and we just clap and that’s it.”
When asked about their love of music, the couple noted how the feeling of performing made the difficulty of practicing worth it. Both began playing music at a young age, and are motivated to combine different styles, as opposed to accepting music as something that must be separated.
The couple are performing their concerts through Tunisia88, an organization that supports young musicians with a mentoring program and creates opportunities for them to make an impact on their communities through music. Mhirssi gave credit to his previous mentor, Dr. Park, for working with them to make this opportunity happen.
Mhirssi and Souf have been reaching out to churches to host their concerts, and are hoping to play in schools as well. Concerts will adapt to their venue, with focus on hymns for church settings and for schools, a more interactive approach to get children involved. They are hoping to create more opportunities to play in and around Johnson City as well.
All concerts are free, and attendees are instead encouraged to donate to 88International, who will then be providing funding for the couple’s tuition. Once the 88 concerts have been completed, the couple isn’t planning to stop there. They hope to continue playing more concerts in order to help other musically-gifted students come abroad to continue their education.
“We are hoping that, and this is like a long-term goal for us, that the same project we started like, helping ourselves, would turn out to help other people one day,” says Mhirssi.
They will be performing in a joint junior recital in Powell Recital Hall on Apr. 19 at 7:30. p.m. This will count as one of the 88 concerts.
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