The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble’s winter concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, in the Performing Arts Center will feature a wide range of music in advance of its concert tour of Southern Spain during Cal Poly’s spring break.
Concert proceeds will help cover expenses for the Spain trip, where the group will perform concerts in Cordoba, Granada and Seville.
In a first for the ensemble, the program includes a fusion of Arab folksong and American rap featuring guest artists Fathi Aljarrah on kamanja (violin), and Star Brown on vocals.
Dovetailing with its concert tour, the ensemble will present several classic and contemporary examples of the “muwashshah” genre of poetry and music, which traces its roots to 10th-century Andalusia. The newer pieces are in the form of a musical and poetic suite by the famed composer-poets, the Rahbani Brothers, and the Lebanese superstar singer, Fairuz. Related, the megahit “Sa’aluni Al-Nas” by Fairuz will be performed. It was composed by her son, Ziad Rahbani, for whom the ensemble is making a year-long tribute following his death in July.
Also on the program will be a hit by the Syrian virtuoso, Farid Al-Atrash, from his stellar career in Egyptian film; a famous Ladino song with Spanish lyrics; a popular Levantine folksong; two original instrumental pieces by Arab Music Ensemble Director Ken Habib; a student “takht,” or chamber ensemble; and the participation of ensemble alumni members who will join the tour.
San Luis Obispo dance director Jenna Mitchell will lead the dance troupe in original choreography that dialogues with the music in an ongoing collaboration that began shortly after the founding of the Arab Music Ensemble in 2006.
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.
