(NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass.) – Oud and violin virtuoso and composer Simon Shaheen will be featured in “From Cairo to Andalusia,” a program of traditional Egyptian and Syrian music, plus improvisations and original compositions, in the Music & More Series at the Historic Meeting House on Saturday, September 10, at 4:30pm.
Shaheen will be joined by a percussionist and a qanun player. (Qanun is a type of hammered dulcimer). There will be a pre-concert lecture at 3:30pm.
Shaheen, a Palestinian who holds dual Israeli and American citizenship, immigrated to the United States in 1980 from Israel to study music at the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University. Shaheen founded the Near Eastern Music Ensemble and heads the Arabic Music Retreat, held annually at Mount Holyoke College.
In addition to his work in traditional and classical Arabic music, Shaheen has participated in many cross-cultural musical projects, including performing with producer Bill Laswell, Columbian singer Soraya, Henry Threadgill, Vishwa Hohan Bhatt, and the Klezmatics. In 1994 he received a National Heritage Foundation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Shaheen lives in New York City, where he leads an Arabic ensemble called Qantara.
A wine and cheese reception with the artists follows in the Meeting House Art Gallery.