In 2017 I was approached to write my first ever composition. Before that, I had only made some collective compositions for bands i play in, or structures for improvising groups. The commission was to write a 40 minutes piece for an ensemble of 50 trumpets! My first reflex was to decline, since I do not consider myself a composer and I didn't want to delve into something I will regret accepting to do later on. But I was invited to visit the location for the performance before giving a final answer; when I stepped for the first time in the Berlin-Pankow Großer Wasserspeicher I knew I cannot let this unique chance slip away. I accepted the commission and went directly into a four-months-long anxiety crisis, asking myself everyday not only "what will I do" but also "why on earth did I accept something I obviously cannot do?" Eventually, after spending some hours alone with my trumpet in the highly reverberating space, I came up with the idea for the music and for the concept behind it: I decided to work on the ancient "walls of Jericho" biblical tale (more on that below).
After the months of doubt, I have to say that I was quite satisfied with the end result. The only regret I have is not having more time to work with the musicians.
The piece was performed again time at the Kraftwerk in Berlin, during the Maerz Musik Festival 2019.

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Here's my presentation of the project:

Walls Will Fall is a composition loosely based on the biblical tale of the battle of Jericho where the Israelites, led by Joshua, started by walking around the walls of the city for 6 days. On the 7th day, they walked 7 times around the walls while 7 priests blew 7 trumpets. After that, they all shouted and the walls of the city fell down.
Far from the religious background of the story (God giving orders to Joshua and his people), it is the idea of music breaking walls and barriers that interests me in the Jericho tale.
In a period of our history where walls are used more as a separation than as a protection (Berlin’s wall, Israel’s separation wall, Trump’s projected border wall) and where invisible walls are erected between people (us and them, the West and the Arabs, the free world and the obscurantism…) it seems important to me as a Middle Eastern composer living in Berlin, and working with 49 trumpet players (7x7) coming from very different backgrounds, generations and parts of the world, to try to make walls fall with our music.
And the Wasserturm in Prenzlauer Berg is the best place for that, both because it has, like Jericho, several concentric walls, and because it is in Berlin, the city that saw its wall falling not so long ago.

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Below is the presentation of the project by the label (Bohemian Drips):

"Walls Will Fall" is a site-specific composition by Mazen Kerbaj which premiered on May 19th 2018. The piece guided 49 Berlin trumpeters through the unique acoustics of a large water reservoir in Berlin-Pankow, whose winding corridors are reminiscent of a labyrinth as in early depictions of Jericho’s ancient city map: According to the old testament, Jericho’s walls collapsed under the sound of seven trumpeters, blowing their horns for seven days while circling around the city. Far from the religious background of the story, it is the idea of music breaking walls and barriers that is central to this composition. During the performance of "Walls Will Fall" the water reservoir’s natural reverberation becomes the accomplice of every sound and movement. As the musicians walk in the space while performing the seven parts of the composition, an acoustic labyrinth unfolds.