Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture

In partnership with Trinity Center for Urban Life, Al-Bustan launched this spring a monthly concert series of Arab classical music, held in the beautiful Great Hall of Trinity Center. Under the direction of Hanna Khoury, each one-hour concert features a different theme and repertoire.

On February 23, Hanna Khoury, on violin, and Hafez El Ali Kotain, on percussion, played a medley of pieces highlighting Arab music and its origins. The music ranged from influential Turkish compositions such as Longha Shahnaz, Arab classics of Sheikh Sayyed Darwish and Mohammad Abdel Wahab, to Simon Shaheen and A.J. Racy, contemporary Arab composers living in America.

On March 18, Hanna and Hafez were joined by Adeeb Refela on oud. They played a set of 7 pieces composed by Mohammad Abdel Wahab. They were joined at the end by members of Al-Bustan’s recently formed Philadelphia Arab Music Ensemble who performed three pieces. The highlight was Sit El-Habayeb, a hugely popular song about motherhood sung by Faiza Ahmed in the 1960′s.

On April 14, Hanna, Hafez and Adeeb played selections composed by Arab-American composers: A.J. Racy, Youssef Kassab, and Simon Shaheen, accompanied in the second half by singers and musicians of the Philadelphia Arab Music Ensemble.

Featured in the 5-minute video below, Jessica Kassarjian, a college sophomore who joined the Ensemble two months earlier, makes her first public performance singing Sit El-Habayeb — a few days before Mothers Day which is celebrated on March 21st in the Arab world.

And see slideshow of photos from concerts:

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