On May 9, 2011 Al-Bustan was recognized with an award by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for establishing an Arab Music Concert Series.

Knight/PNC Announce $3.7 Million in Local Arts Grants
by Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer
published May 10, 2011

“. . . For Hazami Sayed, executive director of al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, a West Philadelphia organization devoted to Arab culture, the $50,000 from the Knight Foundation is a major step in realizing a concert series of Arabic music. The series will feature a guest instrumentalist at every performance as well as al-Bustan’s resident ensemble of classically trained musicians,
led by violinist Hanna Khoury, the organization’s director of music programs.

“It is a way of making Arabic music accessible to a broad audience,” said Sayed. “Nobody has a series like this available on a regular basis with a resident ensemble.”

Click here to read full article.

Click here for press release from Knight Foundation.

WHYY TV featured Al-Bustan in its Friday Arts Program in November 2010.

In a nicely produced segment, Karen Smyles showcases our program with acclaimed musician/composer Simon Shaheen in spring 2010.

See the archived episode featuring Al-Bustan’s Philadelphia Arab Music Ensemble with Simon Shaheen (go to Chapter 4):

Shaheen teaches the Kimmel Center Youth Jazz Ensemble - photo by Charles Fox.

Local Teen Musicians Learn Arabic Music

by Tirdad Derakshani, Philadelphia Inquirer
published February 8, 2010

‘. . . Violin in hand, Shaheen strained to demonstrate one of the key musical differences between Western and Arabic music, the quarter tone. His directions were tailored to his audience, very technical and demanding.

“One of the reasons the melody is so rich in Arabic music is because of this quality called microtonality,” Shaheen, 54, explained in an interview.

“Look at the white and black keys on a piano. The distance between them is a halftone,” he said. “Now, imagine there’s another key between the white and black keys, maybe a red one. That helps you create quarter tones, which can be hard for Westerners to hear, unless they’ve been accustomed to it. In Arabic music we don’t really have harmony because of microtonality and the melodic richness we can produce.”. . .’

Click here for the full article and see slideshow of photos taken by Inquirer photographer Charles Fox.

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.