Register for Arab Percussion Classes - Spring 2021
Learn Arab Rhythms online with Master Percussionist HAFEZ KOTAIN!
Ten-week percussion ensemble classes open to Adults and Youth (7th grade & older)
Mondays for ADVANCED
6 – 7 PM
February 8, 15, 22
March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
April 5, 12
Tuesdays for BEGINNER-INTERMEDIATE
6 – 7 PM
February 9, 16, 23
March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
April 6, 13
(Dates and time for Percussion Ensemble Classes have been updated)
Location: Al-Bustan Zoom
Fee: $300
Please note that our Advanced and Intermediate levels are only open to previous students of Percussion Director Hafez Kotain or, in regards to the Intermediate level, those who have prior experience with Arab percussion.
If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Al-Bustan's Programs Coordinator Bridget Peak at
* Arab Percussion Method Booklet ($15) NOT Included in Registration Fee (copy can be mailed or picked up from our Hub at 3645 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104)
Click here to read and watch what the participants were up to last Fall!
Hafez Kotain
is a master percussionist fluent in both Arab and Latin rhythms--a fluency he honed in his native countries of Syria and Venezuela. In 2013 he received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, a prestigious award given to Philadelphia artists of exemplary talent. Born in Venezuela of Syrian heritage, he grew up in Syria until the age of 16 years. He began playing the doumbek at the age of seven years, made his first stage performance at nine years, and went on to study with master Syrian percussionist Hady Jazan, winning the national percussion competitions in Syria for five consecutive years. In Venezuela he studied percussion at the TMV Institute for Music in Valencia, where he also taught middle and high school students for several years a variety of percussion styles blending Arab and Latino music. Kotian has toured with Syrian singer George Wassouf in Canada and the US; and has performed in Philadelphia with acclaimed artist Sting and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Kotain teaches percussion classes at the University of Pennsylvania, and throughout the year he is a master teaching artist with Al-Bustan at Philadelphia public schools, Al-Bustan Camp, and various community-based programs.