January 2010
One of the most satisfying events during my time working at Al-Bustan last year is the Evening of Arab Music, a concert of classical Arab music held at U-Penn on December 4, 2009. I had worked on planning the program for this event since March, when Hazami Sayed, Al-Bustan’s Executive Director, told me her intention of beginning a new Arab Music Program. Locally, Al-Bustan is well-known for its percussion program, but the decision to expand the music education program beyond rhythm has allowed Al-Bustan to offer a broader and more nuanced experience of Arab music in Philadelphia.
In the fall of 2009, as we launched the Arab Music Ensemble at the University of Pennsylvania, Hazami asked me to participate with the singers. I was a little reticent; while I had played in an orchestra for eight years, I have never considered myself a singer. To sing in a chorus was a completely new experience for me, and singing in a foreign language, with a foreign musical vocabulary that included tones my ears could not easily hear (raised as I was with Western classical music), was difficult. Luckily, this sense of estrangement yielded positive results for the group as a whole: the music director encouraged my mistakes and used them as learning opportunities for all of the singers. Finally, as the esprit de corps between singers solidified, and students from the Penn Arab Student Society and members of the Arab-American community in Philadelphia were attending rehearsals regularly, I began to learn the music much more quickly. By the end of November, I would find myself walking through Philadelphia humming “Ahwak” or “Nassam Alayna.”
Months of work led up to the December concert, which had almost three hundred people in attendance, and only standing room available for those who arrived late. Youth who participate in our summer programs were there with their families, college students had brought their friends, and a cohort of world music students from Temple University gave up part of their Friday evening to help us run the event and enjoy the evening. As favorite songs filled the room, audience members began to smile and clap along, and by the last chorus of “Nassam Alayna,” the entire room was invigorated and echoing with the sounds of collective joy.
- Chloe Tucker, Program Assistant / 2009 AmeriCorps Member
