New Deal Cafe: Okbari

Date: June 28, 2008 (Sunday)
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 P.M.
Place: New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway (Roosevelt Center), Greenbelt MD 20770,
(301) 474-5642 (directions)
Tickets: no cover

Appearing one night only at Greenbelt's New Deal Cafe are Amos Libby on oud and Eric LaPerna on tabla, also known as Okbari Middle East Ensemble. Okbari performs Ottoman classical and Turkish contemporary art music along with works from the Armenian and Anatolian folk traditions. Okbari also presents Arabic folk and classical music as well traditional songs from Greece and the Balkans. Okbari has released five albums since they formed in 1995, and play widely throughout the Northeast. Okbari has shared the stage in Istanbul, Turkey with the Kemani Serkan Ensemble and the Rumeli Meyhane Fasil Ensemble. Amos has appeared onstage as a guest percussionist in 2008 with the legendary Gypsy clarinetist Selim Sesler and his Trakya Fasil Grubu in Beyogl

Audio:
MySpace
YouTube

National Gallery of Art: Tara Artemis Kamangar

Date: June 21, 2009 (Sunday)
Time: 6:30 P.M.
Place: West Building Main Floor, West Garden Court of the National Gallery of Art, 6 Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20565 (location)
Tickets: "open to the public, free of charge. Admittance is on a first-come, first-seated basis, beginning at one half hour before each concert"

Tara Artemis Kamangar, pianist, performs solo the music of by Hossein, Khaleghi, and Prokofiev.

Video:
TaraArtemis.com

Composer Between Worlds: Dimitrie Cantemir

Date: June 11, 2009 (Thursday)
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art, (directions)
Tickets: free with online ticketing via TicketMaster

The Turkish trio Neva Özgen (kemenche), Murat Aydemir (tanbur), and Mesut Özgen (guitar) are joined by Lux Musica on baroque harpsichord, flute, violin, and viol.

Travel to 18th Century Istanbul and Moscow through the music of composer, scholar, and diplomat Dimitrie Cantemir, a flamboyant and brilliant figure who served both the Ottoman sultan and the Russian tsar. A speaker of eleven languages, he wrote a history of the Ottomans that inspired Edward Gibbon with The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. His treatise on Turkish classical music included more than 350 original compositions. After he led an ill-fated rebellion against the Ottomans in Moldavia, Cantemir escaped to Moscow, where he helped translate the Byzantine Greek liturgy into Russian. Turkish instrumentalists join the Baroque music ensemble Lux Musica to recreate the sounds of Cantemir's Moldavian homeland and his careers in Istanbul and Moscow, where he organized lavish musical events with his daughter, a harpsichordist trained in the Italian style. Presented in conjunction with The Tsars and the East.

Sponsors: Tsars & the East exhibition at the Freer/Sackler Galleries of Art (image gallery)

TIME Magazine: The Culture Crunch

WRMEA reviews Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Kennedy Center: Nava Ensemble

Date: 2009.05.30 (Saturday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis

Enjoy a concert featuring masterpieces of the Persian classical repertoire from an ensemble of Iranian musicians ranging in age from 8 to 20 years old, led by Shahriar Saleh with Nava Ensemble.

Kennedy Center: Mimesis Ensemble

Date: 2009.05.07 (Thursday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis

The newly formed, New York City–based Mimesis Ensemble, comprised of energetic emerging graduates of the country’s top music schools, performs works by living composers Halim El-Dabh, Pozzi Escot, and Mohammed Fairouz.

News Hour on Nathalie Handal

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Audio
Video

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Wall Street Journal Profiles Najib Shaheen

OpEdNews Notes Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Khaleej Times Weights Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Al-Arabiya: Arabesque festival challenges US perceptions

Financial Times Looks at Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Bloomberg Notes Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Strathmore: Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma

Date: March 11, 2009 (Wednesday)
Time: 8:00 P.M.
Place: Music Center at Strathmore
Tickets: SOLD OUT -- but check with WPAS for updates at (202) 785-WPAS (9727)

Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma

Sponsors: Toyota, the Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS)

Leaders Tunisia Notes Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Washington Post Reviews Hoba Hoba Spirit at Arabesque

Washington Post Raves Over Arabesque's 'Richard III: An Arab Tragedy'

ARABESQUE: Suheir Hammad

Date: March 7, 2008 (Saturday)
Time: 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F ST NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

Performers:
Suheir Hammad- rap poetry

Video:
Kennedy Center

Financial Times Notes Kennedy Center's Arabesque

ARABESQUE: Salma El-Assal

Date: March 6, 2008 (Friday)
Time: 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F ST NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

Video:
Kennedy Center
YouTube.com

BBC Assesses Kennedy Center's Arabesque

ARABESQUE: Kinan Azmeh Ensemble

Date: March 5, 2008 (Thursday)
Time: 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F ST NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

Performers:
Kinan Abou-afach- cello
Kinan Azmeh- clarinet
Dave Phillips- double bass
Essam Rafea- 'oud
Dinuk Wijeratne- piano

Video:
Kennedy Center

Previously:
September 25, 2005
February 27, 2004

The Duke Chronicle Previews Simon Shaheen at Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Express Night Out Notes Kennedy Center's Arabesque

ARABESQUE: B'net Houariyat

Date: March 4, 2008 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F ST NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

Websites:
B'net Houariyat

Video:
Kennedy Center

DCist Keeps Eye on Kennedy Center's Arabesque

ARABESQUE: Pop Art with Rami Khalife and Francesco Tristano Schlimé

Date: March 3, 2008 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F ST NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

Websites:
Rami Khalife
Francesco Tristano Schlime

Video:
Kennedy Center

ARABESQUE: Tami Meekoo

Date: March 2, 2008 (Monday)
Time: 6:00-7:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, 2700 F ST NW, Washington, DC
Tickets: free and open to the public on a first-come first-serve basis

Video:
Kennedy Center

Morroco Board Lauds Kennedy Center's Arabesque

Moroccan Arts at The Arabesque Festival at the Kennedy Center from Morocco Board TV on Vimeo