Music Dance

Musical Legacies of S. Makkawi, M. Bashir, and W. Akel

By

Sami Asmar

The past few months witnessed the loss of three Arab musicians who were pioneering giants and history-makers - Sayyid Makkawi, Munir Bashir and Walid Akel - three different men on different paths: Makkawi, an Egyptian composer and singer who had reached a career peak and was nearing retirement; Bashir, an Iraqi oud player and composer with international acclaim; and Akel, a Lebanese pianist prodigy who performed Western classical music with a vision to invigorate his art in Lebanon.

Sayyid Makkawi's Five Thousand Tunes

Remembering Farid al-Atrash: A Contender in the Age of Giants

By

Sami Asmar

The same family that spearheaded the rebellion against the French in Syria's Druze Mountain after World War I also produced two of the most renowned Arab musical artists of this century. Farid al-Atrash and his sister Amal, along with their brother Fouad, grew up in the religious minority clan of their parents, Princess Alia and Prince Fahd al-Atrash.

A Song for Every Heart - "Fairuz Live at Beittedine" and "Moods Unveiled"(Majaz Alani)

By

Basil Samara

Fairuz Fi Beiteddine
Relax-In / EMI Arabia, 2000

A Night To Remember With Sufi Music and Ritual Dance: Whirling Dervishes of Damascus

By

Kathleen Hood

WHIRLING DERVISHES OF DAMASCUS

Shaykh Hamza Shakkur and Ensemble al-Kindi Perform Sufi Songs and Ritual Dance from Syria
March 18, 2001, Schoenberg Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles

Sheikh Hamza Shakkur Talks About Sufi Music

By

Sami Asmar

Sheikh Hamza Shakkur’s voice emanates spiritual power that draws listeners into the mystical tradition of Sufism. Born in Damascus in 1947, Sheikh Shhakkur is a quranic reader and hymnist. He is also the choirmaster of the Munshiddin (reciters) of the Great Mosque in Damascus and serves at official religious ceremonies in Syria, where he is immensely popular.

Julien Weiss Discusses Traditional and Contemporary Arab Music

By

Sami Asmar

In 1976, a 23-year-old French classical guitarist listened to a record of classical Arab music, fell in love with it, and dedicated the rest of his life to studying this art. Born and raised in Paris, Julien Weiss, of Swiss and Alsatian heritage, has become one of the few accomplishedqanun players in the world, having studied with masters from throughout the Arab world.

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