On June 3rd, Aswat brings you a concert celebrating the work of musical genius, prolific composer, and innovator Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991).

Abdel Wahab reshaped the musical landscape of the Arab world in the twentieth century, a time when the relatively new and unremitting onslaught of Western culture and ideas posed a challenge to Arab identity not only in politics and economics, but also in art and music.

It was in this charged atmosphere that Abdel Wahab dared to confront the question of Arab identity as it related to the ascendant, colonizing West through music.  The result was a staggering body of work spanning a lifetime that came to reflect Arab self-perception and aspirations.

Despite unassailable credentials in traditional, classical Arab music, Abdel Wahab nonetheless brought innovation to Arab music by incorporating the use of Western instruments and rhythms in his arrangements and compositions.  While this seems commonplace today, it was avant garde when Abdel Wahab first decided to do it.

Regardless of purist criticism, Abdel Wahab’s music ultimately provided the soundtrack for a generation that negotiated a new world in which they desired to retain and maintain their Arab identity alongside their love affair – even if deemed illicit – with these new, if invasive, Western forms.  How else could his music have spoken so effectively to the Arab world?  How else could it have stuck in Arab hearts and minds if it were not giving expression to who they were and how they felt?  And stick it did.

Roughly 20 years after Abdel Wahab’s death, his music lives on as classics in their own right in the Arab world.  Aswat pays tribute to Abdel Wahab on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at the College of San Mateo Theatre.  Directed by Maestro Omar Abbad, the program includes Abdel Wahab’s instrumental compositions, the songs he composed and sang himself, and songs he composed for other singers, demonstrating Abdel Wahab’s growth and development throughout his career.

Tickets on sale now at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/233908

The program likewise includes an Arab folk music medley, an ‘oud and guitar jam, a performance by the Aswat ‘Oud Ensemble, and the Aswat Women Ensemble.

This summer, Aswat brings you a concert celebrating the work of musical genius, prolific composer, and innovator Mohammed Abdel Wahab (1899-1991).

Abdel Wahab reshaped the musical landscape of the Arab world in the twentieth century, a time when the relatively new and unremitting onslaught of Western culture and ideas posed a challenge to Arab identity not only in politics and economics, but also in art and music.

It was in this charged atmosphere that Abdel Wahab dared to confront the question of Arab identity as it related to the ascendant, colonizing West through music.  The result was a staggering body of work spanning a lifetime that came to reflect Arab self-perception and aspirations.

Despite unassailable credentials in traditional, classical Arab music, Abdel Wahab nonetheless brought innovation to Arab music by incorporating the use of Western instruments and rhythms in his arrangements and compositions.  While this seems commonplace today, it was avant garde when Abdel Wahab first decided to do it.

Regardless of purist criticism, Abdel Wahab’s music ultimately provided the soundtrack for a generation that negotiated a new world in which they desired to retain and maintain their Arab identity alongside their love affair – even if deemed illicit – with these new, if invasive, Western forms.  How else could his music have spoken so effectively to the Arab world?  How else could it have stuck in Arab hearts and minds if it were not giving expression to who they were and how they felt?  And stick it did.

Roughly 20 years after Abdel Wahab’s death, his music lives on as classics in their own right in the Arab world.  Aswat pays tribute to Abdel Wahab on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at the College of San Mateo Theatre.  Directed by Maestro Omar Abbad, the program includes Abdel Wahab’s instrumental compositions, the songs he composed and sang himself, and songs he composed for other singers, demonstrating Abdel Wahab’s growth and development throughout his career.

Let Aswat take you on an enchanted musical trip deep into Marin’s Redwood forest, a mere half-hour drive from San Francisco.
Experience the opulence of Arab music in a quaint forest cottage at The Center for Peace and Compassion, where Thoreau’s Walden and Isfahan’s Ālī Qāpū Palace meet.

Aswat’s live music, coupled with the Center’s intimate setting and Eastern opulence, kept warm and cozy by an antique wood-burning stove and Persian rugs, and completely enveloped by the majesty of a Redwood forest is a sensory smorgasbord that one won’t soon forget.

Date:  Sunday, April 29, 2012

Time:  3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Venue:  The Center for Peace and Compassion, 781 Bolinas Road, Fairfax, CA 94939

Tickets Available at https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/230327

Online tickets:  $15

Tickets at the door:  $20

*This unique Aswat venue requires that shoes be taken off at the door, and that you take your seat on the fine Persian rugs layered on the floor.*

*Parking is FREE and plentiful!*

About Arab music:
Arab music contains an array of emotional spaces not found in Western music tradition.  It is highly decorated with little frills, and, in songs, combined with long complex phrases sung by Aswat vocalists who pause not even for a breath.  Instrumental pieces are intricate, requiring talent and skill as it involves Taqasīm (improvisation) in which musicians transition from one maqām (melodic mode) to another, and then modulate back to the original maqām.  Aswat percussionists and qanūn (zither) players have gained admiration in concerts from this transitional modulation.

About the Musical Director:
Omar Abbad’s musical direction is informed by decades of a life immersed in Arab music.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Musicology, specializing in ‘Oud, from Jordan Academy of Music and a Masters of Arts in Musicology from Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan.  He founded and conducts al-Nagham al-Aseel, and composes and arranges for such groups as Awtar Amman Ensemble and Children’s Ensemble for Arab Music in Jordan.  He has conducted various University orchestras and ensembles, including the Jordan Academy of Music Ensemble and al-Hannouneh, which specializes in Palestinian folk music.  Famous Jordanian singers are no stranger to him as well.  Omar has conducted the likes of Macadi Nahas, Ayda al-Amerkani, and Lara el-Layyan.  His musical talent and expertise have brought him to Europe, and now to the United States.  The first Aswat concert he directed was one of Aswat’s most memorable and successful: Salute to the Youth of Egypt & Tunisia in February 2011.  He returns this year to conduct Aswat for another season.

CLASSES OFFERED

Arabic Singing I

Arabic Singing II

Instructor: Dr. Guilnard Moufarrej

‘Oud I

‘Oud II

Instructor:  Dr. James Samir Ismail 

Percussion I

Percussion II

Instructor:  Faisal Zedan

LOCATION

Cubberley Community Center

4000 Middlefield Road

Palo Alto, CA

SCHEDULE

Sundays, 1:15 PM – 3:15 PM

Starting January 22nd

Ending May 20th

ENROLLMENT GUIDELINES

Enrollment takes place on the first day of class, January 22, 2012, from 12:00 pm—1:00 pm

 To enroll, please submit the following: 

1. Filled-out registration form; 2. Payment (cash or check): $340 per student for the Winter/Spring 2012 session (17 classes / January 22—May 20, 2012)

Registration forms are available here, and will be made available on the first day of class.

Make all checks payable to ZAWAYA (not Aswat)

Submit registration form and payment to support staff 

No student will be allowed to sit in class if registration form is not filled out and tuition fee is unpaid.

For more information, email Nabila Mango at  info@zawaya.org

Oakland, CA: ASWAT Bay Area Arabic Music Ensemble Benefit Concert for MECA Maia Project

ASWAT performs “Soul Tradition Love,” including songs celebrating Arab Spring!

Also songs from Palestine, featuring ASWAT Youth, plus dynamic singer/songwriter David Rovics.

The Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California
1433 Madison Street, downtown Oakland
(near 12th St. BART)
Families Welcome!

If you use a wheelchair, please contact MECA, they will be glad to assist you

Cosponsored by MECA and the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California

Benefit for MECA’s Maia Project: Bringing Clean Water to the Children of Palestine.

Tickets: $15 advance, $20 door, $10 low-income/students/children under 12. $50 priority reserved seating also support Maia Project.

Buy tickets online through Brown Paper Tickets or call 1-800-838-3006 to place your order

$15 tickets available at bookstores November 4: (East Bay) Books Inc./Berkeley; Books Inc./Alameda; Diesel; Moe’s Books; Walden Pond; (SF) Modern Times.
No one turned away for lack of funds.

For more information, visit www.mecaforpeace.org

Rehearsal Venue:  ICCNC, 1433 Madison St., Oakland, CA 94612

Rehearsal Schedule:  Sundays, starting Sept. 25, 2011, 2:00-6:00 pm

2:00 – 3:00 pm – Arabic Pronunciation

3:00 – 4:30 pm – Singers

4:30 – 6:00 pm – Musicians

Sign up with Nabila Mango at info@zawaya.org.  Just send her an email stating your interest in joining Aswat.

Aswat Youth is the only program of its kind in the United States today.

The program seeks to teach almost everything in the context of Arab music.  Context is key because Arab music is very different from the aural soundscape of America.  As often as possible, simple Arab melodies are used to practice technique so that students are exposed to pieces that link their learning experience in the present to compositions that have been at the foundation of the Arab music soundscape for generations past.

Aswat Youth teachers include Dr. Guilnard Moufarrej, Director; Dr. James Samir Ismail, ‘oud instructor; Loay Dahbour, percussion instructor; and Younes El-Makboul, violin instructor.

Download registration form by clicking here.  Bring filled out registration form to the first day of class or email filled out form to info@zawaya.org.

ASWAT, the premier Arab arts and music ensemble of the Bay Area, proudly announces its long anticipated spring concert to be held Sunday, June 5th, 2011 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. With a special focus on the music of Palestine, the matinee concert will devote almost half of the program to both folkloric and traditional Palestinian village songs commemorating life and tradition as expressed in old songs dating back to a time before wars, destruction and displacement. Aswat will also perform timeless classical compositions from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. Guest artists joining ASWAT will be international peace troubadour David Rovics and acclaimed Syrian singer Mohannad Mchallah, who got standing ovations at his recent ASWAT performance in April 2011 at the College of San Mateo.  

This special performance titled “Soul… Tradition… Love -  An Evening of Folkloric and Classical Arab Music from Palestine and Beyond” represents a major milestone for Aswat, celebrating almost eleven years of musical history in the Bay Area. The June 5th performance will be directed by renowned Jordanian conductor and oudist Omar Abbad, who has spent the past five months training and directing the ensemble.  ASWAT and its founding organization Zawaya invite you all to a truly special afternoon of beautiful Arabic music from Palestine and beyond. 

To purchase tickets, visit: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/176525

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/167283

As the Arab World navigates the vicissitudes of history, Zawaya calls upon the Bay Area to come together for a night of music and song to commemorate Easter and Intifada.

Directed by multi-instrumentalist and ‘oud master, Maestro OMAR ABBAD.

Aswat will be joined by special guests MOHANNAD MCHALLAH, Turathuna Choir, & the Arab American Catholic Church SF Choir.