In the Media

Concert Featured in the University City Review

Al-Bustan Music Ensemble Performs at Penn, December 4

Al-Bustan Music Ensemble Performs at U-Penn on December 4


An Evening of Arab Music at the University of Pennsylvania – Comprised of performers from all different ages & backgrounds

by Nicole Contosta, University City Review
published December 9, 2009

‘Al Bustan-Seeds of Culture performed a free concert of Arab music at Houston Hall last Friday, December 4th. Directed by violinist Hanna Khoury, the ensemble, which is comprised of elementary, high school, college students and beyond, performed music deemed, by its very structure, foreign to Western ears.

According to Khoury, that’s because “there are two components that make up Arab music: melody and rhythm. ?The different interpretations of melody create the textured Arab sound that we listen for, which is called heterophony.”. . .’

Click here to read the full article

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Comments (0)

Ibtisam Barakat Profiled in the Chestnut Hill Local

Ibtisam Barakat in Chestnut Hill Local

Ibtisam Barakat in Chestnut Hill Local

On July 22 and 23, Al-Bustan was pleased to host noted author Ibtisam Barakat to conduct poetry workshops with our campers. See her interview with Len Lear of the Chestnut Hill Local. . .

Working Tirelessly to heal social injustice Palestinian Author brings tales of war to Hill

by Len Lear, Chestnut Hill Local
Published: July 30, 2009

[...]“Barakat, who spent two days with students at Springside last week, is on a peripatetic mission of peace and justice. Born in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem, she spent most of her formative years in Ramallah, Palestine (generally referred to in news stories as the West Bank). After earning a degree in English literature from Birzeit University on the West Bank, she came to the U.S. in 1986 for an internship with The Nation magazine. She later earned two M.A. degrees — in journalism and in human development and family studies – at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Just before coming to Springside, Barakat had attended a world poetry conference in Caracas, Venezuela, as the Palestinian representative. Prior to that, she was in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman for one month as “author in residence” working with middle school and high school students. Her memoir, Tasting the Sky; a Palestinian Childhood, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, was named by Booklist as one of the top 10 biographies for youth and in 2008 won the International Reading Association’s Best Non-Fiction Book Award for Children and Young Adults.”

Click here to read the full article.

Posted on July 25, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Also posted in Camp, News | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

South Philly Review features Concert of Arab Music

The GAMP High School Jazz Band Performs

The GAMP High School Jazz Band Performs

Cross Cultural Concert

by Amanda Snyder, South Philly Review
published May 28, 2009

‘With a growing Lebanese population around 10th and Federal streets, and pockets of Arabs in the North and Northeast, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is using the universal language of music to bridge the potential gap between younger generations and the understanding of countries such as Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The communications lesson hit a high note May 19 at Girard Academic Music Program, 22nd and Ritner streets, with three jazz bands, a choir, as well as Al-Bustan’s percussion and music ensembles, performing classical and jazz fusion Arabic music for an audience that may have been hearing the cultural strains for the very first time.’

Click here for the full article and review of Al-Bustan’s concert of Arab Music, co-presented by GAMP School in their beautiful new auditorium located at 22nd and Ritner Streets.

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Bulletin highlights Arab Arts & Heritage Celebration

Students from John Moffet Elementary School prepare for a percussion performance at the Arab Arts and Heritage Celebration last year.

Students from John Moffet Elementary School prepare for a percussion performance at the Arab Arts and Heritage Celebration last year.

A View of the Arab World Through Art

by Erin Maguire, The Bulletin
published May 19, 2009

More than 200 students from seven city schools will showcase Arab culture in the form of dance, poetry, music and art Thursday, at the School District of Philadelphia’s atrium on 440 N. Broad St. from 11:15 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. The program is the second annual Arab Arts and Heritage Celebration, presented by Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture and the School District of Philadelphia. It is free and open to the public, and attendees will have the chance to drink Arab coffee and meet with students in sessions following the event.

Dennis Creedon, the administrator of the School District’s Office of Comprehensive Arts Education, and Hazami Sayed, Al-Bustan’s executive director, will open the event, which will begin with a 4-minute video highlighting Palestinian poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s February visit to Philadelphia schools. Students were encouraged through reading Ms. Nye’s poetry to explore their own heritages and express themselves through art. Ms. Nye’s work — which served as the catalyst for this year’s Arab Arts and Heritage Celebration — has a diverse intended audience,  from children to adults, and centers on the universal themes of heritage and peace.

Click here for the full article.

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Al-Bustan Profiled by International Press

Cultivating Arab Culture

by Lee Bailey
published August, 3, 2008 in The National, a leading English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi

Al-Bustan Campers making Palestinian embroidery, photographed by Jessica Kourkounis

Al-Bustan Campers making Palestinian embroidery, photographed by Jessica Kourkounis

‘. . .During the past three weeks, 55 children aged six to 16 have come every weekday to Springside to participate in Al Bustan (“the garden” in Arabic). A tour of the building can be an assault on the ears, but a pleasant one: a chorus of children counting aloud in Arabic gives way to the giggling of teenagers shooting a video dispelling ethnic stereotypes, their chatter then drowned out by the impressive thunder of traditional Arab drumming. Embroidery stitched by tiny hands adorns the hallways, and everyday objects ranging from blackboards to toilets are colourfully labelled in both English and Arabic.

“My favourites are art class and dabke,” says Keira Norford, age 12. “Dabke is a dance they do in some Middle Eastern countries,” she adds helpfully, as an afterthought. If the children of Al Bustan are consciously informative in conversation, then the camp’s organisers have achieved their primary objective. “We want kids to leave here loving Arabic language and culture, and to be able to share that with others,” says Hazami Sayed, Al Bustan’s founder and director. She estimates that the camp is split evenly between children with two Arab parents, children with partial Arab heritage, and children with no Arab background whatsoever. Campers’ families practice a variety of religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.’

Click here to read the full article.

Posted on April 9, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Also posted in News | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Philadelphia Inquirer profiles Shaheen Concert

Simon Shaheen playing the 'oud

Simon Shaheen playing the 'oud

Simon Shaheen’s concert at the Kimmel Center on February 1, 2009 garnered attention from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Click here for the article

Posted on March 20, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Philadelphia Inquirer covers Al-Bustan School Program

Article about Al-Bustan’s weekly music and storytelling workshops offered at Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences, in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Kristen Graham on May 28, 2008:

Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Nehad Khader | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Voice of America Interviews Al-Bustan’s Executive Director

Voice of America Logo
Hazami Sayed Makes Arabic Art, History Come Alive for Philadelphia Youth

by Stacia Demarco
published April 29, 2008

‘Hazami Sayed refers to her family as “accidental immigrants.” She and her husband had intended to return to the Middle East after attending college in the United States, but became comfortable in their jobs and lifestyle and decided to stay. But Arab culture and heritage have always been an integral part of her family life; Sayed, who was raised in Kuwait by her Lebanese and Egyptian parents, calls herself a “Pan Arab.” She and her family regularly travel to the Middle East to visit family and friends and to expose her two sons to Arab culture. . .’

Click here for the full interview with Al-Bustan’s Founder and Executive Director Hazami Sayed on Voice of America – American Life.

Posted on March 1, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Archived Media Coverage

Article on Music and Memory: Legacy in a New World concert with A.J. Racy and the MidEast Ensemble at Swarthmore College, by Alex Ho, March 6, 2008:

The Phoenix

Article on Al-Bustan Camp in Roxborough Review by Jeremy Barker, August 1, 2007:

Roxborough Review

Coverage of Andalusian Concert in City Paper by Mary Armstrong, July 10, 2007:

City Paper

Al-Bustan Press Release announcing national artisitc recognition from National Endowment for the Arts:

Al-Bustan Press Release 5-18-07.pdf

Coverage of December 9th, 2006 Celebration and Weekend Workshops in City Paper by Mary Armstrong, January 2007:

City Paper

Coverage of December 9th Celebration in University City Review, December 2006:

University City Review

Coverage of Al-Bustan Camp in Chestnut Hill Local August 2006:

Chestnut Hill Local

An interview with Hazami Sayed in e-magazine, MidEast Connect, April 2006:

MidEast Connect

An interview by ADC’s Sophie Parish with Hazami Sayed in April 2005:

ADC Interview

A personal perspective by Yasmin Adib, parent of an Al-Bustan participant, and currently Development Coordinator of Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture:

Morris Arboretum Story

Articles on Al-Bustan Camp featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer July 2002:

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/3655990.htm

in the Philadelphia Daily News July 2003:

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/6363255.htm

in the Chestnut Hill Local July 2003:

ChestnutHillArticle

in the Chestnut Hill Local July 2004:

ChestnutHillPhoto

and in the Public Garden Journal 2004:

PublicGardenArticle.pdf

This article was originally published in The Public Garden, Volume 19, Number 1, 2004, and is posted on this website with the permission of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Chloe Tucker | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)