Creative visualization is an essential attribute to be possessed by an artist to achieve success in any art endeavour. To reach its purpose in all its fields, art is made manifest and is expressed through real genuine passion. This research study acknowledges Gibran Kahlil Gibran, as a distinguished immigrant artist, with a vision. A comparison is then made of six other artists, including the researcher, who have all had similar ordeals in the successful attainment of their vision. This biographical, neo-narrative research design methodology was recorded through extensive readings and lengthy interviews, which consisted of proposing specific questions to each of the participants in order to extract valid and comparable findings. As a consequence, the art researcher was able to observe, reflect and draw some relevant conclusions towards the creative vision of Lebanese immigrants, which led to their success despite hardships, expatriation, ambition and hope. This study has provided the researcher with real insight into the characteristics of these artists and what constitutes a successful immigrant. It has confirmed her pre-conceived perceptions that success takes time and personal effort. It highlights the importance for the existence of tolerance between people, which in turn will enable the realisation of empathy.

Creative visualization is an essential attribute to be possessed by an artist to achieve success in any art endeavour. To reach its purpose in all its fields, art is made manifest and is expressed through real genuine passion. This research study acknowledges Gibran Kahlil Gibran, as a distinguished immigrant artist, with a vision. A comparison is then made of six other artists, including the researcher, who have all had similar ordeals in the successful attainment of their vision. This biographical, neo-narrative research design methodology was recorded through extensive readings and lengthy interviews, which consisted of proposing specific questions to each of the participants in order to extract valid and comparable findings. As a consequence, the art researcher was able to observe, reflect and draw some relevant conclusions towards the creative vision of Lebanese immigrants, which led to their success despite hardships, expatriation, ambition and hope. This study has provided the researcher with real insight into the characteristics of these artists and what constitutes a successful immigrant. It has confirmed her pre-conceived perceptions that success takes time and personal effort. It highlights the importance for the existence of tolerance between people, which in turn will enable the realisation of empathy.

abstract: “The Mystery of Light” is the first movement of a yet to be completed larger work titled ...to melt into the sun for chamber choir and percussion quartet. The text of the work is an excerpt from Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet. This book tells the story of a prophet-like man, Almustafa, who, before embarking on the journey back to his native land, stops in the city of Orphalese, where the townspeople, having known him for many years, entreat him to share his wisdom before he departs. The seeress, Almitra, urges him, “speak to us and give us of your truth.” Almustafa proceeds to philosophize on a range of topics including love, laws, pain, friendship, children, time, beauty, and self-knowledge. Just before his farewell to the people of Orphalese, he speaks of death, saying that it is not something to be feared, but rather, embraced as a necessary and beautiful part of life. This interconnectedness of the life and death process, of which Almustafa speaks, is the subject of “The Mystery of Light.” Almitra’s aforementioned request returns directly and indirectly throughout the movement as a reference to humanity’s undying desire to understand the great mysteries of our own mortal condition. The choir shifts throughout the movement between the three following perspectives: 1) that of people who live in fear, whose anxious whispers grow into shouts of horror as they are faced with the threat of death, 2) that of people who share Almitra’s inquisitiveness and are inspired with wonder by the secret of death and 3) that of the prophet, as he speaks words of comfort and wisdom to those who look, either in terror or wonder, upon the face of death. My hope with this music is to share the comforting words which Gibran has spoken through the character, Almustafa, so that, as they have done for me, these words may provide comfort to those who will stand trembling in the presence of life’s most inevitable consequence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2020