Ethiopian Community Finds Home In His Song
Church Musician’s Work Honored With NEA Fellowship

By Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington Post

For more than 80 hours a week, Moges Seyoum works in the parking garage at the Kennedy Center and Lisner Auditorium. But that, he says, is only his job.

His profession is something more special: an ancient religious practice that has brought him the gratitude and respect of thousands of Ethiopians in the Washington area and in May earned him one of the most prestigious awards handed out by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Called the National Heritage Fellowship, it honors traditional and folk artists who make important contributions to the country’s cultural fabric. Among the other winners this year were a saddlemaker from Idaho, a Korean dancer from New York and the leader of a jazz band from New Orleans.

“It is an honor,” said Seyoum, 59, of Alexandria, taking a break between his two full-time jobs one afternoon. “I know that the people appreciate me a lot.”

Seyoum is a church musician, a highly respected position in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church.

He is one of the world’s foremost experts in a complex style of song and chant in the Ethiopian church. He has memorized hundreds of hours of songs, is an authority on the church’s method of musical notation and has a rare level of mastery in a style of sacred dance.

The service is unlike most Christian services, involving the use of massive hand-struck drums and wooden prayer staffs with ornate bronze handles. The service can last several hours, during which Seyoum sings almost continuously.

On a recent Sunday at Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church in Northwest Washington, Seyoum led a group of singers — all of whom he taught — in a six-hour ceremony commemorating the day they believe Jesus ascended to heaven after being resurrected.

The ceremony began at 1 a.m., although most of the more than 1,000 worshipers in diaphanous white wraps who came to watch did not begin trickling in until about 5 a.m.

Incense clouded the air of the main hall as Seyoum and about a dozen white-robed men sang in Ge’ez, the holy language of the Ethiopian church. They danced intermittently, moving their staffs with slow, swaying movements. Seyoum’s voice rang out above the rest, his eyes rolling heavenward as he shifted from high, clear notes to low, growling ones.

The services bring the community many of the sights, sounds and smells of home, some congregants said.

“There are so many things we miss from Ethiopia,” said Bililign Mandefro, 62, one of Seyoum’s students. When Seyoum sings, he said, “it is a reminder. This is a moment when you are really taken back to your roots.”

Seyoum is credited with helping to popularize the Ethiopian church in the Washington area, home to a substantial Ethiopian population. The church, which had a handful of members when it was founded in 1987, sees as many as 2,000 visitors during special ceremonies.

The growth is fueled in part by a steady stream of immigrants who numbered more than 30,000 last year, according to the Census, a number some say is low. But church leaders say the increase in attendance is also because of Seyoum’s accomplishments.

In addition to his jobs and religious studies, he teaches classes every Saturday, passing on to a new generation of Ethiopian Americans what he began learning from his father at age 8.

“This is no simple thing he does,” said Kay Shelemay, a Harvard University professor and ethnomusicologist who nominated Seyoum for the award.

“He is an immigrant, and he is struggling to have a home and to keep body and soul together in a new country. And then he has really established a wonderful musical liturgical program at his church.”

Seyoum is the first Ethiopian American to be given the fellowship, which includes a $20,000 award, since its inception in 1982. Seyoum said he hopes to use the money for living expenses while he writes a book of church music.

He and this year’s other 10 winners will be honored at a ceremony and banquet in Washington in September.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.