Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture

On Wednesday September 23, the sounds of Arab classical music began to float through the parish hall at St. Mary’s Church, as they will every Wednesday evening till May 2010 in West Philadelphia.  Fifteen musicians of all backgrounds came together for the first time to play their instruments and sing during a two-hour workshop.

Al-Bustan is pleased to expand its music education program through the efforts of three highly skilled Arab musicians.  We invite young singers and musicians (college-age and younger) to join the Ensemble and learn to play and sing classical Arab music, under the direction of violin virtuoso Hanna Khoury, with master percussionist Hafez El Ali Kotain and oud player Adeeb Refela.

The Ensemble is working towards their first performance on December 4 at Houston Hall – University of Pennsylvania, and a culminating concert on April 25, 2010 with internationally-renowned musician and composer Simon Shaheen.

Have a look at a video (02:40) of one of the rehearsal sessions led by music director Hanna Khoury on November 18, 2009.

See a photo slideshow of the weekly rehearsals, which were preceded by several school and college demonstrations taught by Hanna Khoury and Hafez El Ali Kotain.. . . latest photos shown through December 2, 2009:

Flickr + Highslide encountered an error

Error: Photoset not found

For more information on musicians and registration form, click here. Singers meet 6-7:30pm and Instrumentalists meet 7-9pm on Wednesdays; second semester begins on January 20, 2010.