Chicago (AINA) -- "Chicago is home to one of the largest Assyrian communities in the United States," says Robert DeKelaita, an attorney and founder of Nineveh Enterprises, a corporation dedicated to reviving Assyrian arts, "so we need to step up our efforts and showcase our cultural material to our people and to those that live around us."

Robert DeKelaita, one of the founders of the Ashurbanipal Library of Chicago, is pushing the arts as a way to bring people together, after various political and religious internal conflicts have brought division and bitterness between members of the community. He is supported by Assyrian attorneys, doctors, and other activists.

In Honor of Assyria is a unique concert featuring the Chicago Symphony Quartet, led by renowned and award-winning Italian violinist Eloise Meloni, who had previously performed in a concert titled In Honor of Nineveh.

Meloni is a brilliant and extraordinary violinist, and has performed as a soloist and chamber music performer. Eloise is the first violinist and one of the founders of Symphony Quartet. In 1984, at the age of 10, Eloise Melonie was the first prize winner of the violin competition "Prize Alessandro Longo" in Rome, Italy, where she was awarded the "High Technical Virtuoso and Maturity Interpretation" Award. In 1994 she was the winner of the International violin competition "Prize Sassari" in Italy. After this great achievement, Eloise launched her international career. She has performed in England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Austria, France, Cyprus, the Middle East, Canada and the United States.

This concert will feature traditional Assyrian music composed and arranged according to a classical theme by Meloni, who is looking forward to the concert, which will be performed on December 5, 2009, at the Christian Heritage Academy near Chicago, Illinois. In addition to the music, Assyrian artists Odisho Kifarkis and Panipal Giwargis have been commissioned to create an unprecedented art show.

"We are proud to participate in this effort," notes Odisho Kifarkis, who is a sculptor and painter from Syria, "and to show in a small way that we honor this heritage of ours, in all of its glories and tragedies."

Though others have performed classical music, it has never been solidified in this present form. Meloni has arranged many old favorites into a classical mold. Obalit Yadgar, an Assyrian who had a show at a Chicago classical radio station for many years, will be the host of the evening.

"I am very honored and excited, indeed" said Violist and composer Eloise Meloni, "the idea of classical music in honor of the very foundation of civilization cannot be underestimated." Meloni and her Chicago Symphony Quartet have referred to their music as "Assyrian renaissance."

Why the emphasis on the arts?

"Art gives people hope," said Robert DeKelaita, "It inspires them. It makes them mediate and then act toward the good. The music that the Chicago Symphony Quartet will play will move our people in ways you cannot imagine. I invite anyone to come away uninspired after coming to this event."

Nineveh Enterprises has just begun. Next will be a strong and studied focus on food, clothing, literature, traditional songs, dance, and storytelling. "We have treasures within us," states DeKelaita, "within our community. It is time we know them, revere them, and allow them to uplift us and bring us together better." The goal is to display, in various forms of media, Assyrian culture and art in entertaining yet educational ways. "Museums have part of our story," concludes DeKelaita, "we cannot forget that the rest of the story is living and it is within us."