The
Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music
---------------
March 19-23, 2005
DeKoven Center - Racine, WI
==>
Presentation
==> Faculty
==> Schedule
==> Individual classes
==> Lectures' content
==> Workshops' content
==> Registration
==> Tuition
==> Contact
. . . . 
. . . . 
. . . . 
The
Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music is a five-day residential program
focusing on classical Arabic music. The Seminar is designed both
for people who wish to begin their study as well as those who seek
to improve their skills. |
|
The
Seminar will feature internationallly-recognized academics and performers
who will offer individualized instruction, lectures, and workshops.
Special sessions will be devoted to topics such as music marketing
and promotion, composition, technical issues, and education. The instructors involved are: Hicham Chami of Chicago on qanun, Hanna Khoury of Philadelphia on violin, Scott Marcus of Santa Barbara on ney, Naser Musa of Los Angeles on vocals, Karim Nagi Mohammed of Boston on percussion, and Kareem Roustom of Boston on 'ud. All instructors have extensive background in education and workshop-conducting in addition to being recording artists and performers. |
 |
The Heartland Seminar is sponsored by Xauen Music, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of classical Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish, and Armenian music. Xauen promotes concerts, publishes a magazine, conducts educational workshops, and produces recordings. The location is DeKoven Center in Racine, Wisconsin; an Episcopal conference center on Lake Michigan. DeKoven is convenient to Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee, yet offers a secluded setting conducive to the Seminar. The Heartland Seminar is the first event of its kind to be held in the Midwest. |
|
Hicham
Chami
Hicham Chami is a Moroccan-born qanun performer based in Chicago. He has
studied qanun for nearly twenty years, with Abd El-Kbir Al-Haddad and
Hassan Amhaouch in Morocco and Jamal Sinnu and George Sawa in the United
States. Hicham graduated from the National Conservatory of Music and Dance
in Rabat Morocco, with a diploma in Qanun performance and instruction
and another in Western Music Theory.
Hicham has been performing with several ensembles in the U.S, and could
be heard in several CDs, ranging from Spiritual music and Traditional
Egyptian repertoire to Turkish folk and Bellydancing music.
Hicham is founder of the Mosaic Trio and the Chicago Classical Oriental
Ensemble as well as Xauen Music, an organization dedicated to preserving
the heritage of classical Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish, and Armenian music.
Following graduation from business school in Casablanca, Hicham moved
to Chicago to begin the MBA program at DePaul University’s Kellstadt
School of Business.
He is included in Chicago Magazine's "Best of Chicago" issue
(August 2002) as "best instrumentalist"; this is the first time
a Muslim Arab has received such recognition.
Hicham is an educator as well as a musician. He conducts workshops and
classes for children and adults in a variety of settings, and is the designer
of Arabesque, an educational program introducing Chicago inner-city schools
to the Arab culture and Music.
Hanna Khoury
Violin virtuoso Hanna Khoury is trained in both Western and Arabic styles.
As the principal violinst of the West East Divan Orchestra Workshop under
the direction of Daniel Barenboim, Hanna has performed numerous tours
with world class artists and musicians including cellist Yo Yo Ma. He
has also collaborated with members of the Staatskapelle Berlin in concerts
in Malta and Israel.
Recently Hanna
has toured with Lebanese superstar Fayruz and played lead violin with
Iraqi singer Kazem El-Saher and with Simon Shaheen in the Cairo Opera
house.
Hanna has studied with Mark Kaplan and Arthur Zisserman and has done master
classes with Shlomo Mintz and Hagai Shahamis
Hanna is the
recipient of the America Israel Scholarship and Qattan Foundation Award.
Scott Marcus
Founder and director Dr. Scott Marcus received his Ph.D. in music/ethnomusicology
from UCLA in 1989, with a doctoral dissertation entitled Arab Music Theory
in the Modern Period.
In addition to his studies at UCLA under Ali Jihad Racy, Scott also studied
in Cairo, Egypt with a number of the main teachers at Cairo's two music
institutes (al-Ma`had al-`Ali li-l-Musiqa al-`Arabiyyah, i.e., The Higher
Institute for Arab Music, and Kulliyat al-Tarbiyyah al-Musiqiyyah, i.e.,
The Faculty of Music Education, Helwan University).
A UCSB Pofessor since 1989, Scott teaches in the Music Department's Program
in Ethnomusicology.
Karim Nagi Mohammed
Karim Nagi Mohammed is a native Egyptian who has lived in the Boston area
for over 20 years. Karim performs primarily Arabic, Turkish and Andalusian
hand percussion, including the Egyptian Tabla (goblet drum), Riqq (tambourine)
and Segat (brass castanets). Karim leads the SHARQ Arabic Music Ensemble
performing the classical Arabic instrumental and vocal repertoire. Karim
developed and currently performs Turbo Tabla a music and dance show that
combines traditional Arabic and Turkish music with modern Electronica
and Techno.
After graduating from Skidmore College with a degree in Psychology and
three regularly performing bands, Karim traveled to India, Turkey, Eastern
Europe and back to Egypt for an extended time. Karim returned to America
in 1995 and began performing exclusively Arabic Music His first teachers
were Nabil Ata and Midhat al-Rashidi. Karim later studied with Simon Shaheen
at the Arabic Music Retreat and learned advanced Riqq from Michel Baqlouq.
Karim then formed the SHARQ Arabic Music Ensemble. In 1998 Karim began
producing the Arabesque Mondays series at Club Passim and would bring
Arabic performers from all over the USA to perform at this famous folk
club in Harvard Square. Karim resumed studying Arabic Music, this time
in Cairo with Dr. Alfred Gamil (Cairo Conservatory of Music) and Mohammed
Al-Araby (percussionist for Umm Koulthoum and The National Orchestra of
Egypt.) He currently teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music.
Naser Musa
A Jordanian of Palestinian descent, singer/songwriter Naser Musa started
playing oud, a Middle Eastern lute, at an early age while living in Amman,
Jordan. In addition to the oud, he also studied singing Arabic music.
He moved to the United States in 1982 and earned a degree in music from
California Polytechnic University, Pomona. Naser Musa performs regularly
at concerts and festivals around the world and extensively with the prominent
ethnomusicologists Dr. Ali Jihad Racy of UCLA, and Dr.Scott Marcus of
the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He has appeared on
the same stage as some of the biggest names in Arabic music, including
Lebanon's legendary Sabah, Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alame, and Egypt's
Hani Shaker.
An oud virtuoso and a valued studio musician, Musa has composed, arranged,
and recorded several projects in the Middle East and in the United States.
His latest recording is "Khaliji" (RT Productions), a collection
of folk songs from the Gulf region that he researched and rearranged.
The album features Musa on oud, as well as lead and background vocals,
with Souhail Kaspar on percussion. Musa has also recorded for the highly
acclaimed artists Michael Sembello, Sabah, and others.
Musa's artistic versatility and sense of musical adventure have enabled
him to collaborate with Arab, Persian, Spanish, and American musicians.
He continues to experiment with the blending of musical elements and artistic
styles. Throughout his career, his objective has been to combine Arabic
maqams, a melody or series of phrases based on scales, with western elements
in order to present a style of Arabic music that is understood and appreciated
by the western listener. Musa's current project involves mixing elements
of bluegrass with Arabic music to create a unique artistic statement.
Kareem Roustom
Kareem Roustom is a Syrian-born composer, guitarist and Oud player who
has composed, arranged, and produced music for film, television, multimedia,
the concert hall, and album projects. As a performer (Guitar and Oud)
Kareem has worked with the Boston Camerata, Los Angeles based The Januarys,
Swiss vocalist Emel, saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh, drummer Jimmy Paxson
Jr., The Sharq Arabic Music Ensemble, violinist Shira Kamen, the Firebird
Ensemble and others.
While on a U.S. tour with the Boston Camerata the Boston Globe wrote that
Kareem was "eloquent on the Oud", the Chicago Tribune that he
"....played with flair and confidence" and the Los Angles Times
that he "shined." Kareem has also produced and arranged music
for jazz vocalist Titilayo Ngwenaya's "Beware the Short Haired Girl"
featuring clarinetist Don Byron (1997), a forth coming CD from Zurich
based vocalist Emel (2003-04), and 'The Songs of Sayyed Darweesh: Soul
of a People' for Chicago based Arabic musician Hicham Chami, among many
others. Some of Kareem's credits as a composer and orchestrator of film
and television music include compositions and arrangements for Paramount
Pictures, Fox Pictures, MTV, NBC, Lifetime, Showtime and several award
winning independent films. His honors include the Pete Carpenter Fellowship
from BMI (1996) and two Subito grants from the Los Angeles chapter of
the American Composers Forum (2000, 2002). Recently, Kareem released a
CD with his group, El-Zafeer Ensemble, entitled Almitra's Question (Link).
This CD features original compositions and arrangements that blend jazz
and Arabic styles.
Program is subject to last minute changes.
Participants will be notified.
The Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music offers daily classes
on the following mediums:
- Qanun
- 'Ud
- Ney
- Violin
- Vocals
- Hand drums
All faculty members have an extensive background on music performance
and instruction and are able to accomodate any level.
* Arabic Vs Western Music, different approaches to playing, teaching,
and writing - by Hanna Khoury
Hanna Khoury will be giving a lecture on how the approach to playing,
teaching, and writing Arabic music differs from playing Western music.
He will discuss the styles and approach to notation and the methodology
involved in writing it. Using his violin, he will show how the manner
of teaching the instrument differs from that of Western classical training.
He will also discuss the evolution of the Arabic sound.
** Changes in the concept of 'Maqam' over the last 200 Years -
by Scott Marcus
Performers in the eastern Arab world today play within the system of melodic
modes, called the maqamat. Ideas and approaches to the maqamat have changed
greatly over the last 200 years. Scott's talk will address many of these
issues, with musical example
*** Historical evolution of Moroccan Andalusian music- by Hicham
Chami
Nowadays, Classical Moroccan music is often referred to as “Al
Musiqa Al Andalussiyah”, literally, the Andalusian Music, a misleading
confusion denying to the Moroccans their extensive input. Today’s
Moroccan music owes a lot to Moorish people, but is also the product of
numerous improvements which are essentially Moroccan. These improvements
are found at different levels: rhythmic patterns, poetry, modes.... The
Nawba, as known, sung, and recorded today, is the result of centuries
of development and enrichment. Hicham's talk offers an overview of the
historical evolution of the Moroccan Nawba from the early days of Ziriab's
teachings to the recent wave of fusion music.
* Arab Music for Dance - by
Karim Nagi Mohammed
Although music exists without dance, dance rarely exists without
music. Arab culture has a strong dance tradition with specific music that
propels it. Students will study the relationship between music and the
movement it creates or accompanies. Overviews will be given in the categories
of Performance (Stage Dabka and Raqs Sharqi), Ritual (Zikr, Zaar, Sama/Whirling),
and Social Dance (Dabka and Raqs Baladi). Karim will also demonstrate
the intimate connection between rhythm and movement in the Performance
category, with live examples.
** Beduin Music - by Naser Musa
The Arab gulf and
the Beduin people have their vey own music: The Beduin music and its modern
form, the Khaliji music. Naser will present a workshop on the so often
non talked about Beduin Music. He will show and demonstrate through musical
examples the various rythms to which this music, the specific instrumentation,
and the special melodic modes used in this music.
Application deadline:
Friday, February 25th, 2005 Tuition and fees.
Application form: Download HERE.
Mail your application to:
Xauen Music, Inc.
Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music
P.O. Box 60072
Chicago, IL 60660-0072
or
Fax it to (866) 557-1749
- $ 495 for the 5 days
- Tuition covers lodging in double rooms, 3 meals a day, attendance at
all one-on-one classes, collective workshops and lectures, written booklet
of all scores, lecture content, CD of all recordings, and videotape of
all workshops.
- Payment by installment might be considered upon a case by case evaluation
| Web | www.xauen-music.com |
| seminar@xauen-music.com |
|
| Phone | (312) 927-2746 (847) 830-8277 |
| Fax | (866) 557-1749 |