Arab Music Ensemble
Spring Concert
Friday, June 1, 2012
8 p.m., Spanos Theatre
The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble will perform traditional and contemporary music and dance from the Eastern Mediterranean and larger Middle East with special guest artists.
The ensemble will present definitive vocal and instrumental selections by some of the most celebrated composers and performers of Arab art and popular music, including Egyptian songs by Karim Mahmoud and Mohamed Abdelwahab, and Lebanese songs by Nancy Ajram and the team of Fairouz and the Rahbani Brothers.
A special feature of this concert will be the recitation of classic Arabic and Persian poems by Khalil Gibran and Jalal ad-Din Rumi, which will be incorporated into a musical suite displaying the interconnection of music and poetry in the larger region.
This diverse program will include a variety of selections rooted in traditional melodic modes with neutral tones as well as metric modes of ten and fourteen beats along with performances by a chamber ensemble playing Turkish art music, a percussion dance piece, and a rock ballad with electric guitar.
Conducting Iranian music and playing santur will be guest artist Bahram Osqueezadeh. San Luis Obispo dance instructors Saundra Sarrouf and Jenna Mitchell will lead their troupe in several exciting folkdances, and local percussionist Keeth CrowHawk Hershman will lead the drum section.
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 with specializations in the Middle East and American popular music.
Tickets ($10 general, $8 seniors and students)
