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May 2, 2012

Contact: Michele Abba
805-756-2406; mabba@calpoly.edu

Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble to Perform June 1

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble will perform traditional and contemporary music and dance from the Eastern Mediterranean and larger Middle East region at 8 p.m. Friday, June 1, in the Spanos Theatre on campus.

The ensemble and special guest artists will present definitive vocal and instrumental selections by some of the most celebrated composers and performers of Arab art and popular music, including Egyptian songs by Karim Mahmoud and Mohamed Abdelwahab and Lebanese songs by Nancy Ajram and the team of Fairouz and the Rahbani Brothers.

A special feature will be the recitation of classic Arabic and Persian poems by Khalil Gibran and Jalal ad-Din Rumi, which will be incorporated into a musical suite displaying the interconnection of music and poetry.

This diverse program will include a variety of selections rooted in traditional melodic modes with neutral tones as well as metric modes of 10 and 14 beats and performances by a chamber ensemble playing Turkish art music, a percussion dance piece, and a rock ballad with electric guitar.

Guest artist Bahram Osqueezadeh will conduct Iranian music and play the santur. San Luis Obispo dance instructors Saundra Sarrouf and Jenna Mitchell will lead their troupe in several folkdances, and local percussionist Keeth CrowHawk Hershman will lead the drum section.

The 30-member Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble is under the direction of Music Department faculty member Kenneth S. Habib, a composer and performer with a doctorate in ethnomusicology with specializations in Middle Eastern and American popular music.

Tickets are $10 for the public and $8 for seniors and students. They are on sale at the Performing Arts Ticket Office from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To order by phone, call SLO-ARTS (805-756-2787).

The concert is sponsored by the Cal Poly Music Department, College of Liberal Arts, and Instructionally Related Activities program. For more information, call the Music Department at 805-756-2406.

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