The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble will give its winter concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, in the Performing Arts Center.
“The show will begin with a suite of Arab art and popular music that features classic instrumental and vocal pieces ranging from the Ottoman era to contemporary times,” said Arab Music Ensemble Director Ken Habib. “The vocal selections range from a famous example of the muwashshah, a genre of poetry and music that stems from 10th-century Andalusia, to celebrated songs from Iraq and Egypt.”
A takht (chamber ensemble) will begin the second half of the program and be followed by several Turkish pieces, including “Uskudara Gider Iken” (“While Going to Uskudara”), which has been widely adapted by cultures across Eastern Europe, Southwest Asia and North Africa.
Acclaimed guest artists will join the ensemble, including Ishmael on qanun (zither), Fathi Aljarrah on kamanja (violin), Rafid Yalda on nay (reed flute), and Faisal Zedan on riqq (tambourine), daff (frame drum) and darabukka (goblet drum).
Celebrated composers, poets and artists to be represented on the program include Abd al-Mun`im Arafah, Adham Afandi, Amr Diab, Bayram al-Tunisi, Fairuz, Mulla ʻUthman al-Mawsili, Nasser Al Mizdawi, the Rahbani Brothers, Riyad al-Sunbati, Tanburi Cemil Bey, Umm Kulthum, and Zakariya Ahmad.
San Luis Obispo dance director Jenna Mitchell will lead the dance troupe in the performance of original choreography that dialogues with the music.
The Arab Music Ensemble is an orchestra and choir with vocal and instrumental soloists and with a membership that represents many majors on campus and professions off campus.
Patrons receive a 20% discount when buying season tickets to four Music Department events through the Performing Arts Ticket Office; Cal Poly faculty and staff receive a 20% discount on individual tickets.
The event is sponsored by Cal Poly’s Music Department, College of Liberal Arts and Instructionally Related Activities program.
