The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble and Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, in the Performing Arts Center.
The internationally acclaimed Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble consists of artistic director and founder John Chookasian on clarinet, Barbara Chookasian on lead vocals, Ishmael on kanun, Paul Ohanesian on oud, and Mark Toomajian on dumbeg.
John Chookasian was inducted into the California Central Valley Music Hall of Fame in 2024, and the group has received many honors, including Armenia’s National Gold Medal Award and an International Armenian Grammy Award.
The concert will begin with a suite of Arab art and popular music. There will be instrumental genres rooted in shared traditions of the Ottoman era, choir pieces that include famous examples of the muwashshah — a genre of poetry and song which originate from the artistic milieu of 10th-century Andalusia — and two contemporary dance pieces.
The second half of the show will feature a variety of traditional and popular Armenian music genres interspersed with solos by members of the Chookasian Armenian Concert Ensemble, then the two ensembles will join forces to perform “Ah Ya Zayn” (“Oh Beautiful”), a popular folksong arranged by Arab Music Ensemble Director Ken Habib.
The Arab Music Ensemble is an orchestra and choir with vocal and instrumental soloists. Its membership represents a wide range of majors on campus and professions off campus. The dance troupe, directed by San Luis Obispo dance director Jenna Mitchell, has collaborated with the ensemble since its formation in 2006.
Renowned composers, poets and artists to be represented in the concert hail from Armenia, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey and include Cemil Bey, Fairuz, Hayrig Ghazarian, Komitas Vartab, Morsi Gamil Aziz, Mounir Mourad, the Rahbani Brothers, Sayyid Darwish, and Tatoul Altounian.
