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Tickets

Tickets for most events may be purchased from the Performing Arts Ticket Office:

805-756-4849 (new!)
Toll free: 888-233-2787 (Calif.)

The Performing Arts Center experience is getting even better!
This season’s audiences will experience a variety of enhancements:

Event Parking Sponsored by the PAC!
- Event parking is now sponsored by the PAC for events in its venues
  - Harman Hall, Pavilion and Spanos Theatre
What You See Is What You Pay!
- New “out the door” price of admission includes PAC fee
- Lower overall prices for most Music Department events
Better Ticketing Experience
- Expanded ticket office hours
- Online purchases can be made up to an hour before curtain
  - Option to print tickets at home
- Price is the same no matter how you buy — in person, by phone or online
Enhancements in Harman Hall
- New seats, stage curtains and a refinished stage floor
- New era in sound
  - Meyer Sound “Constellation System” helps musicians hear better onstage enabling them to perform better
  - “Line array” audio system will make every seat “a sweet spot”

Arab Music Ensemble

The Arab Music Ensemble combines singers and instrumentalists from among students and the larger San Luis Obispo community in performances of classic repertoire from Arabic and historically related cultures. World-class guest artists add to the concerts of traditional and contemporary music involving melodic and metric modes played on instruments including oud, nay, qanun, violin, cello, bass, accordion, guitar, riqq, daff, tabla and more. Shows feature diverse musical genres and beautiful folk dances in support of the ensemble’s educational mission.

Winter Concert

Saturday, March 16, 2013
8 p.m., Spanos Theatre

The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble and renowned guest artists will perform classic and contemporary music and dance from the Eastern Mediterranean and larger Middle East.

The ensemble will present old and new vocal and instrumental selections by some of the most celebrated composers and performers from the Ottoman era to the present day. In addition to time-honored traditional repertoire, the concert will feature songs made famous by Umm Kulthum and Zakariya Ahmad of Egypt and Fairuz and the Rahbani Brothers of Lebanon.

Acclaimed guest artists on the program include Egyptian master violinist Adel Iskander Guirguis, distinguished Assyrian qanun player Ishmael, and Near Eastern percussion specialist David Martinelli. Also performing will be ensemble lead percussionist Keeth CrowHawk and San Luis Obispo dance instructor Saundra Sarrouf leading her troupe in folk dances.

The 30-member Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble is under the direction of Music Department faculty member Kenneth S. Habib, a composer and performer with a doctorate in ethnomusicology and specializations in the Middle East and American popular music. Included on the program will be a suite of his original compositions presented by the guest artists in a chamber ensemble and with a dance choreographed by Sarrouf.

Tickets ($12 general, $9 seniors and students)

Spring Concert

Saturday, June 8, 2013
8 p.m., Spanos Theatre

This second concert of two major contrasting shows of the season presents some of the most classic and popular selections of Arabic music and socio-historically related cultures. Renowned guest artists add to the ensemble’s diverse vocal and instrumental repertoire, and colorful dancers put a variety of beloved folksongs into motion.

Tickets ($12 general, $9 seniors and students)