World Festival Loses Another Attraction to Visa Difficulties

The World Festival of Sacred Music on Tuesday announced the loss of another of its best-known international attractions--a Syrian troupe of whirling dervishes--due to turmoil in the Middle East and stepped-up security precautions that have prompted U.S. consulates to delay or deny visas to performing artists from countries considered havens for terrorists. Two singers missed performances at the festival’s opening Saturday.

New, post-Sept. 11 visa restrictions also have jeopardized another prime attraction, a Balinese gamelan orchestra set to make its U.S. debut, director Judy Mitoma said. The 16-day Los Angeles festival, which began Saturday, encompasses 55 events in venues across the city.

Festival organizers knew that visas would be difficult given new security restrictions, Mitoma said. “We got a head start, got all the papers in line, but at this point it doesn’t matter” when the artists are trying to travel from nations identified as trouble spots. She said the difficulties only reaffirm the purpose of a festival committed to reflecting the religious diversity of Los Angeles.

Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a noted singer of Islamic qawwali music, missed his scheduled appearance at the festival’s opening gala at UCLA’s Royce Hall, but not because of visa problems, Mitoma said. Turmoil in his home country of Pakistan prevented him from getting a flight in time. Najwa Gibran, a Toronto-based singer of Arabic music, was prevented from joining the Los Angeles-based multiethnic Yuval Ron Ensemble in a performance at the UCLA Hammer Museum.

Ron, an Israeli-raised American Jew, said that Gibran, a 25-year-old Israeli Arab with Canadian citizenship, was turned back twice by border patrol agents while trying to catch flights from Buffalo, N.Y. Ron said agents claimed she might stay to work illegally in the U.S. and refused to read documents showing she was engaged to perform at the festival. Mitoma said that the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus canceled appearances on Sept. 28-29 after being told by U.S. consular officials in Syria that it was unlikely they would get visas in time. The Syrians already “were very nervous” about coming to the United States at a time of high tension between the U.S. and Arab world over Iraq, she said.

Mitoma said she spent all day Monday talking to consular officials and trying to enlist California congressional representatives on behalf of Cudamani, the gamelan group from Bali, which needs visa clearance by Thursday afternoon to catch its flight. Its tour includes festival performances Sept. 28 at the Wilshire Ebell Theater and Sept. 29 at the Greek. Stuart Patt, a spokesman for the consular affairs bureau of the U.S. State Department, said the government is “working out ways to speed up the process” for visas.