Alwan Arab Music Ensemble to Perform November 13 at Sarah Lawrence College
The Alwan Arab Music Ensemble, featuring a broad range of Arab, Middle Eastern, and Western music will perform on November 13 at 5 p.m. in Reisinger Concert Hall. The performance is free and open to the public.
Since the late 1990s, Alwan for the Arts has been on the forefront of promoting the diverse cultures of Middle Eastern culture in the New York tri-state area. Alwan’s mission is to build a diverse community around the arts that encourages engagement, participation and dialogue from all its members.
“We are extremely fortunate to be bringing the Alwan Music Ensemble to Sarah Lawrence,” says Matthew H. Ellis, the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Chair in Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs. “For over 15 years, Alwan for the Arts has succeeded in becoming an indispensable creative arts space in New York City, serving to build bridges between various communities and representing an array of Middle Eastern cultures.”
The Alwan Arab Music Ensemble presents a repertoire that includes regional folk songs, masterpieces of Egyptian cinema, Arab concert hall culture, and the root of it all – classical Arabic music. Performances evoke the ambiances of Cairo, Baghdad, al-Quds and Aleppo, as well as contemporary New York with its own vibrant Arab American artistic and intellectual community.
Alwan Arab Music Ensemble musicians include: Tareq Abboushi: Buzuq; Rami El-Asser: Percussion; Amir ElSaffar: Trumpet/Santur/Voice; Johnny Farraj: Percussion; Sami Abu Shumays: Violin; Zafer Tawil: Qanun/Violin; George Ziadeh: Oud/Voice.
Sarah Lawrence College