Spring 2015 Film Screenings

The Center for Arabic Culture Film Screening Program

To go back to our Fall 2014 Film Screenings, click here.

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Spring 2015 Film Screenings

Beverages, snacks and Middle Eastern sweets will be served

The CAC will be celebrating Lebanese Singer Fairuz and the Rahbani Brothers:

 FRbrothers

Assi and Mansour Rahbani were Lebanese composers who rose to fame throughout the last half of the twentieth century. For nearly three decades they collaborated with legendary singer Fairouz, known as the Jewel of Lebanon. The trio revolutionized the standard for Arab music with the three-minute song (when most were twenty minutes long at the time) and more complex lyrics. Their work ranged from songs about youth and love to musicals that experimented with political satire.

Their musical content generally refrained from taking political stances, often presenting a pan-Arab philosophy. During the Lebanese Civil War their music was actually used in propaganda by both sides. In a country that had only recently gained independence by their first collaboration in 1951, Fairouz and the Rahbani brothers were credited with molding Lebanese identity. Perhaps the most internationally famous Lebanese musicians, Fairouz and the Rahbani brothers produced 19 musicals in 20 years.

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Bayya3 al-Khawatem (Rings for Sale)

Friday January 23, 2015 – 6:30 pm

RingsForSale

In a first attempt to make a feature film out of a widely acclaimed musical, “Bayya3 al-Khawatem” was shot in the Lebanese countryside echoing the songs and music that were first heard on stage.

This film is about a small village where the young people are preparing for an annual festival in which many will choose spouses. The mayor of the village, who has a niece named Rima, decides that the villagers are too bored and need to have their imagination stimulated. He invents and tells stories about a fictitious person named Rabi’, describing him as an enemy of the village. Then two idlers in the village start to steal, damage property, and so forth, while putting the blame on Rabi’. Things look even worse when a tall, strong stranger enters the village, says that his name is Rabi’, and asks Rima where he can find the village’s mayor.

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Bint al-Hares (Daughter of the Watchman)

Friday February 27, 2015 – 6:30 pm

 bintAlHares

Bint al-Hares is a love story that grows between a village girl called Rima and an outsider. Her father, the village watchman, who claims to watch after the comings and goings of all the village affairs, is blind to his daughter’s interest in the stranger. The songs of this film celebrate the Lebanese landscape as they portray the merry aspect of village life.

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Safar Barlek  (The Exile)

Friday March 27, 2015 – 6:30 pm

Safr Barlek

The events of this film take place in Lebanon prior to World War I when most of the Arab countries were under the domination of the Ottoman Empire. These were very difficult days for the local population who had to endure injustice and cruelty, their crops confiscated to feed the army and young men recruited by force into the invaders’ army. If they tried to avoid recruitment and were caught they were sent into exile, hence the title of the film. The fight against oppression is fully illustrated in the film and told in the songs and music.

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Join us for these great events at the CAC  –  191 Highland Avenue, Unit 6B, Somerville, MA

Free and open to the public!

 

CAC Children's Choir to Perform in Event Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr

MLKchoirEvent

Come see the CAC Children’s Choir perform!

 

Monday, January 19

11:00 am to 1:00 pm

East Somerville Community School

(50 Cross St. in East Somerville)

“Music: Our MLK Jr Dream By Song”

Annual Martin Luther King Jr Day Celebration

 

Volunteers needed to help the day of the event.  Please email your interest.

For more information, contact the Office of Somerville at commissions@somervillema.gov 

or call 617-625-6600 (x2406)

 

NOOR ENSEMBLE CONCERT JANUARY 30

 

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THE PERRY AND MARTY GRANOFF MUSIC CENTER

Tufts University • 20 Talbot Avenue • Medford, MA • 02155

Noor Ensemble Poster-page-001FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

 

Media Contacts:

Anna Griffis 617.627.3679                                 Jeffrey Rawitsch, 617.627.2253

anna.griffis@tufts.edu                                        Jeffrey.Rawitsch@tufts.edu

 

TUFTS UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC PRESENTS
AL-MAWLID AL-NABAW? / THE PROPHET’S BIRTHDAY
FEATURING THE NOOR ENSEMBLE

 

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MA – The Tufts University Department of Music presents Al-Mawlid Al-Nabaw?/The Prophet’s Birthday, a concert by the Noor Ensemble, in the Distler Performance Hall at the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center on Friday, January 30, 2015 at 8 p.m. The Noor Ensemble presents a program of sacred songs (mad?h) from Morocco, Syria and beyond, in a concert to commemorate al-mawlid al nabaw? – the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. This concert is co-sponsored by the Department of Music and the Middle East Studies Program at Tufts.

The Granoff Music Center is located at 20 Talbot Avenue on Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit as.tufts.edu/music/musiccenter or call the Granoff Music Center Box Office at 617.627.3679.

This concert has been made possible by the Granoff Music Fund.

 

Press Listing for Event Calendar Details

Friday, January 30, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.

Al-Mawlid Al-Nabaw?/The Prophet’s Birthday

Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Avenue, Tufts University Medford/Somerville Campus

Featuring: The Noor Ensemble; Abdou Adam, Imad Angham, Jamal Warma, vocals; Yussef Ait Lhadj, percussion; Mohamed Ali, oud; Kareem Azab, violin; Mohamed Majour, n?y; Boujemaa Razgui, buzuq; Jamal Sinno, q?n?n

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Tufts University, located on three Massachusetts campuses in Boston, Medford/Somerville, and Grafton, and in Talloires, France, is recognized among the premier research universities in the United States. Tufts enjoys a global reputation for academic excellence and for the preparation of students as leaders in a wide range of professions. A growing number of innovative teaching and research initiatives span all Tufts campuses, and collaboration among the faculty and students in the undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs across the university’s eight schools is widely encouraged.

The Tufts Department of Music offers a flexible and eclectic academic program leading to a Bachelor or Master of Arts degree in music. Students concentrate in composition, ethnomusicology, musicology, or theory, while having the opportunity to explore all these disciplines, as well as the areas of music cognition, linguistics, sociology, and anthropology of music. Students also have the opportunity to perform in over twenty different department ensembles and chamber music groups, as well as study privately on the instrument of their choice (including voice). The Tufts Department of Music is housed in the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center, home to the Distler Performance Hall, Fisher Performance Room, Varis Lecture Hall, and Lilly Music Library. The Music Center hosts over 180 events and concerts annually, the majority of which are produced and presented by the Department of Music.

 

Tufts University – Department of Music
Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Ave
Medford, MA 02155
Office: 617-627-2253 • Box Office: 617-627-3679
Web: as.tufts.edu/music/musiccenter

Ambassador Clovis Maksoud: Book Reading/Signing

Ambassador Clovis Maksoud Book Reading

(Click on image to view full-size)

Date:  Saturday, November 1, 2014
Time:  4:00 pm
Location:   Sever Hall
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138

Free and Open to the Public

Ambassador Maksoud will be presented by

Professor William Granara

Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University

 For directions, please click here.

 

A Lebanese national, Dr. Maksoud was the Chief Representative of the League of Arab States in India from 1961-1966. From 1967-1979, he served as the Senior Editor of Al-Ahram, and then Chief Editor of Al-Nahar Weekly. Ambassador Maksoud was appointed as the League of Arab States’ Chief Representative to the United States and the United Nations on September 1, 1979. On August 15, 1990, he submitted his resignation from the League in the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. A lawyer, journalist and diplomat, Dr. Maksoud served as the Arab League Ambassador to India and South-East Asia from 1961-1966.

Dr. Maksoud is the author of several articles and books on the Middle East and the global South, among them: “The Meaning of Non-Alignment,” “The Crisis of the Arab Left,” “Reflections on Afro-Asianism” and “The Arab Image.” Ambassador Clovis Maksoud was Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, DC from 1990-2012. Clovis Maksoud was the Chairperson and Convener of many conferences on environment and development, human rights, population, and disarmament.

Born on December 17, 1928, Dr. Maksoud graduated from The American University of Beirut, went on to receive his J.D. from the George Washington University in Washington, DC and did post-graduate studies at Oxford University in Britain.

The CAC is honored to have Professor Maksoud in Massachusetts to speak about his rich and invaluable life experience.

Dr. Maksoud will be presented by Professor William Granara, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University.

For more information, contact:  Info@cacboston.org,  or call 617-893-1176

Movement/Dance Workshops Presented by Monkeyhouse & Fleur D'Orange

Monkeyhouse and the CAC Present

Fleur D’Orange

Movement Workshops presented by Fleur D'Orange and Monkeyhouse

alice dufour

Two Exciting Workshops:

What’s in a Name?  A movement workshop for ages 8-14.  Friday, October 17th, 2014, 5:30-7:00 pm.  Cost: $25 per person. Special rate for CAC Arabic School Students: $15 per person.

To Register, please click HERE.

Dancing and Discussing Identity  An adult dance class.  Friday, October 17th, 2014, 7:00-8:30 pm.  To Register, please click HERE.

Cost: $25 per person. 

For more information, click HERE, or visit the website:  http://www.monkeyhouselovesme.com/fleur-dorange-events.html,

Grup Anwar Concert in Vermont

St. Mike s Poster.pptx-page-001

From Damascus to Vermont: A Syrian Journey

New original compositions of Arabic classical music are unusual, not only in the United States but even in the Arab world. Turath, literally “heritage” in Arabic, describes the musical legacy of the old repertoire dating back hundreds of years. Sadly, popular music, Western influence and the passing of generations have eroded interest in the turath repertoire among both the listening public and young musicians. As a result, the Arabic system of musical composition utilizing maqam, and with it the rich body of work from the Golden Age of Arabic music, is in danger of becoming forgotten.

Maqam is the Arabic modal theory of music. The music is primarily melodic in structure and the listener will note a general absence of harmony. Complexity is developed tonally through layers of contrast in timbre among the various instruments, non-uniformity in their use of ornamentation, and through modulation of maqam. Taqasim is a solo improvisation designed to demonstrate the particular qualities of an instrument through the development of a particular maqam.

Time, place and personal relationships are strongly reflected in Arabic musical composition. Maqams are closely associated with particular moods, time of day and season of the year. The beauty of Vermont and the friendliness and generosity of its people have inspired Anwar to compose a “wasla,” a suite of thematically related compositions. The focus of our concert Wasla Vermont, is a follow-up and companion work to Wasla Damascus, a group of thirteen compositions that were commissioned and broadcast live by the Syrian National Radio Orchestra in Damascus in 2005.

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About Grup Anwar

Grup Anwar was formed in 2011 to bring the classical and popular music of the Middle East to a wider audience in the North Country of New England and New York. The group’s leader, violinist, oudist and composer Anwar Diab Agha, played for many years with the Syrian National Radio and Television Orchestra in Damascus and has toured internationally with the most renowned musicians in the Arab world .

Since moving to this country to join his family Anwar has continued to compose new works in the Arabic Classical style which are a unique feature of the group’s repertoire. Anwar, which means “luminous” in Arabic, accurately reflects the style and substance of this ages-old tradition of music.

Grup Anwar is proud to be the 2014 recipient of the Flynn Center’s Artist’s Space Grant and has also received funding from the Vermont Community Foundation’s Arts Endowment Fund to produce a concert of Maestro Diab Agha’s original music.

Members of Grup Anwar include: Anwar Diab Agha, violin, oud, vocals; Joseph Campanella Cleary, violin, mandolin; Jeffrey Davis, oud, nay; Colin Henkel, doumbek; Chris Schroth, riqq; Gregory White, oud.

 

Thomas Philip Abowd Book Reading

Thomas Philip Abowd – Book Reading & Discussion Sept. 19th

The Center for Arabic Culture Presents:

Colonial Jerusalem

Book Reading and Discussion By

Thomas Philip Abowd

Thomas Abowd received his PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University. He has been involved in scholarly and activist projects in the Middle East and the United States for the last 25 years. As well as other awards, Abowd has received two Fulbright Awards to conduct research in Palestine/Israel. In addition, he teaches in the departments of Anthropology, Arabic culture, and American Studies at Tufts University. He is the author of more than 15 scholarly articles. His new book entitled Colonial Jerusalem: the Spatial Construction of Identity and Difference in a City of Myth (2014, Syracuse University Press) looks at Israeli military rule as colonial power, particularly with regard to the politics of land and housing.

Date: Friday, September 19, 2014

Time: 7.00 pm

Location: Center for Arabic Culture

191 Highland Ave, 6B Somerville, MA 02143

For more information, contact info@cacboston.org or 617-893-1176.