Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble to Perform March 10

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble will perform traditional and contemporary music and dance from the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and the larger Middle East with special guest artists at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 10, in the Spanos Theatre on campus.

The ensemble will perform both old and new vocal and instrumental selections by some of the most celebrated composers and performers of Arab art and popular music. The program will include songs by Sayyid Darwish and Mohamed Abdelwahab of Egypt, Fairouz and Rahbani Brothers of Lebanon, and Dahmane El Harrachi of Algeria.

The concert will also feature examples of historically interconnected cultures including traditional Turkish and contemporary Greek music as well as a Syrian television theme and treasured folk songs.

Renowned guest artists on the program will include Adel Iskander Guirguis, a master violinist from Egypt; Ishmael, a distinguished qanun player of Assyrian heritage who hails from the Bay Area; and Amel Tafsout, an acclaimed dancer, choreographer and vocalist from Algeria.

The program will also feature local percussionist and dancer Keeth CrowHawk Hershman and San Luis Obispo dance instructors Jenna Mitchell and Saundra Sarrouf leading their troupe in a variety of folk dances.

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 are $10 for the public and $8 for seniors and students. They are on sale at the Performing Arts Ticket Office from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order by phone, call SLO-ARTS (805-756-2787).

The concert is sponsored by the Cal Poly Music Department, College of Liberal Arts, and Instructionally Related Activities program. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-756-2406.

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