Baghdad Symphony Plays On Despite Threats
Amazingly, as an increasingly brutal civil war decimates Iraq's capital city, the Baghdad Symphony is still performing regularly. But even the orchestra, which has been held up many times as a symbol of hope for a broken country, has been sustaining losses. One musician has been killed in sectarian violence, and many others "have received death threats, must practice in semi-secrecy and don't dare show their faces to our television cameras." And just to add insult to injury, American and Iraqi soldiers recently raided the home of one of the BSO's violinists, and smashed his 19th-century violin to pieces. ABC World News 05/20/07

Posted May 20, 2007 05:38 PM