Washintunes

Nibal Malshi

2024-03-16T13:50:00.000-04:00

For the 2024 National Arab American Heritage Month, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents Dallas-based singer Nibal Malshi and her ensemble to its Millennium Stage on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
Tickets are free and become available on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 10:00 AM EDT. (Tickets will also be available at the Hall of States Box Office on the day of the performance as of 4:30 PM EDT.)
The event will also occur livestreamed.
Click here to watch and listen to this performance!

Syria to Egypt: A Musical Continuum

2018-09-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Syria to Egypt: A Musical Continuum:

Click on each name to watch and listen to these performances!

Mohamed Abozekry: Direct from Cairo, virtuoso Mohamed Abozekry showcases Egypt's popular and classical music traditions, Sufi calls, and secular poetry with a new instrumental project
Youssra El Hawary: A musical storyteller of everyday life, Youssra El Hawary captures the tales of Cairo and the alchemy of the Mediterranean basin in her indie sound
Dina Elwedidi: A sophisticated musical innovator, Dina Elwedidi weaves together the personal threads of Egyptian heritage and contemporary identity

Al Spendiaryan Qanon Ensemble

2018-07-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Founded by musician and educator Tsovinar Hovhannisyan, the Al Spendiaryan Qanon Ensemble was created to encourage Armenian girls and young women to take up an instrument traditionally played by men. The Ensemble has produced virtuosic musicians, sparking a “gender revolution” in their wake and bringing fresh energy to concert.

Click here to watch and listen to this performance!

Turquoise Lake

2018-01-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

Turquoise Lake is a collaboration between Afghan American vocalist Humayun Khan and renowned composer Douglas J. Cuomo that blends the raga tradition of southeast Asia and poetry of Sufi masters with the harmony and improvisation of jazz, they create a joyfully virtuosic music that celebrates the cultural diversity that is Americas's highest ideal.

Click here to watch and listen to this performance!

Sahba Motallebi

2017-10-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Sahba Motallebi, recognized internationally as a modern virtuoso of the tar and setar, lute-like stringed instruments central to one of the world’s great musical traditions.

Click here to watch and listen to this performance!

Farah Siraj

2017-04-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Farah Siraj, Jordanian virtuoso vocalist, spreads a message of peace through writing and performing original compositions. Her art is influenced by Middle Eastern music, flamenco, jazz, bossa, and pop with lyrics in Arabic, Spanish, and English.

Click here to watch and listen to this performance!

Hamid El Kasri

2017-03-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Hamid El Kasri, one of the most sought after maalems and a master musician in the Moroccan gnawa Afro-Islamic spiritual tradition, performed on the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage on March 17, 2018.

Click here to watch and listen to this performance!

Simon Shaheen - Benefit Concert

2016-10-07T18:00:00.000-04:00

Date: October 15, 2016 (Saturday)
Time: 8:00–11:00 P.M.
Place: Weston Arlington Gateway, , 801 N Glebe RD, Arlington VA 22203
Tickets: $40.00 online

Simon Shaheen, master musician and teacher, will perform a concert benefiting for End the Israeli Occupation. He is at once a reservoir of Arabic music legacy and adventurer into new frontiers of music – honored in 1994 with an NEA National Heritage Award. If you haven't heard him, come see; if you have heard him, you know what's waiting...!

Sephardic Liturgy and Selihot with oud and kanoun

2016-09-19T12:15:00.000-04:00

Date: October 9, 2016 (Sunday)
Time: 6:30–9:30 P.M.
Place: Magen David Congregation
Tickets: $18 at door

Rabbi Haim Ovadia and the Magen David Congregation offer a concert that includes full musical ensemble: Qanoun, Oud, Darbooka, Violin plus leading cantors.

The concert forms part of Sephardic Hazzanut and Liturgy, three days before Kippur.

Rajab Suleiman and Kithara

2016-09-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Rajab Suleiman and Kithara appeared on the Kennedy Center's Millennium State on September 18, 2016, and performed Arabic music of Zanzibar.

Click here to watch and hear this performance!

Art: A Portal to Gaza City - Palestine

2016-09-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

Date: October 5, 2016 (Wednesday) - October 8, 2016 (Saturday
Time: 08:00 A.M. - 07:00 P.M. daily
Place: District Architecture Center (421 7th Street NW, Washington DC 20004
Tickets: Ticket details

Portal to Gaza City, Palestestine TEXT...
Global public art initiative, "Portals," will connect to Gaza City for the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival with immersive audio-visual technology. By entering, you come face-to-face, live, full-body, with someone in the corresponding spot. Participants in the Gaza Portal and DC are invited to enter the Portal for up to 20-minutes to converse live with a stranger abroad as if in the same room. Translation is available. Gaza conversations happen daily from 8am-11:30am starting October 6. Reserve your time here: http://www.sharedstudios.com/locations#/dcpfaf/ Please make sure to purchase a ticket for the live shows at Eventbrite

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Kennedy Center: Ramy Adly

2016-08-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Date: August 28, 2016 (Sunday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis

Ramy Adly comes to Washington with his Sting-style oud... must see (and hear)!

(He will open a School of Oud in Washington soon thereafter...)

Kennedy Center: Rahim AlHaj Trio

2016-07-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Date: July 28, 2016 (Thursday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis

Rahim AlHaj returns to the Kennedy Center with Palestinian-American percussionist Issa Malluf, and Iranian santour player Sourena Sefati perform a program entitled Middle Eastern Music from New Mexico.

Kennedy Center: Home Within

2016-06-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

Date: June 30, 2016 (Thursday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Family Theater of the Kennedy Center (2700 F ST NW, Washington DC 20057)
Tickets: free to public (see details)

Kinan Azmeh returns yet again to the Kennedy Center, this time with long-time collaborator and fellow artist Kevork Mourad for an exquisite audio-visual performance for their home country Syria -- not to be missed!

Video:

News:
CBS News

Tropicalia: Rahim Alhaj and Wanees Zarour Ensemble

2015-09-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Date: October 3, 2015 (Saturday)
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Place: Tropicalia at 2001 14th ST NW, WDC 20009
Tickets: $10

Rahim Alhaj of Iraq on oud and the Wanees Zarour Ensemble of Palestine on buzz and other instruments.

Video:

Social Media:
Facebook invitation
Facebook - Rahim Alhaj
Facebook - Wanees Zarour

Sponsors:
DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival (DCPFAF)

Producer: Multiflora Productions

Millennium Stage: Andrea Assaf with Eleven Reflections on September

2015-09-15T09:53:00.001-04:00

Date: September 15, 2015 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Kennedy Center at 2700 F ST NW, WDC 20566
Tickets: free to public on first-come first-serve basis

Playwright Andrea Assaf will perform her own poetic, multimedia play Eleven Reflections on September about the Arab-American experience, Wars on/of Terror, and observations of the season in a post-9/11 world. The performance will include live music with an international ensemble of women artists: Featuring: Donna Mejia, Eylem Basaldi, Natalia Perlaza, and Jenny Luna.

Video:

Audio:
[link]

Sponsors: Kennedy Center's Women's Voices Theater Festival.

Bossa Bistro: Terakaft | Cheick Hamala’s Griot Street

2015-09-13T21:07:00.001-04:00

Date: September 15, 2015 (Tuesday)
Time: 08:00 P.M.
Place: Bossa Bistro at 2463 18th ST NW, WDC 20009
Tickets: $10 general, $11.34 (with advance fee) via Brown Paper Tickets

Terakaft ("caravan") is a Tuareg blues group, influenced by Tinariwen.
Terakaft will perform with Tuesday night's regular, Cheick Hamala’s Griot Street.
Video:

Social media:
Facebook - invitation
Facebook - Terakaft
MySpace

Producer: Multiflora Productions

St John's Episcopal: Ayman Fanous Solo

2015-05-21T11:25:00.000-04:00

Date: May 22, 2015 (Friday)
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Place: St. John's Episcopal Church, 5649 Mount Gilead RD, Centreville VA 20120 (directions)
Tickets: Free and open to public

Washington's own Ayman Fanous returns to the stage with a solo performance on Spanish guitar and Mediterranean bouzouki.

Video:

Sponsors: St. John's Episcopal Church

Falls Church Episcopal: Alash Ensemble

2015-05-02T12:25:00.000-04:00

Date: May 2, 2015 (Saturday)
Time: 8:00 P.M.
Place: Falls Church Episcopal, 115 E. Fairfax ST, Falls Church VA 22046 (directions)
Tickets: $20 adults, $10 students and seniors, available online

Alash Ensemble returns to the Washington, DC, area with their members -- the current generation's greatest Tuvan throat-singing vocalists and musicians.

Video:

Sponsors: Stone Room Concerts

Back Alley Theater: Parkins Fanous Surak

2015-03-29T15:15:00.000-04:00

Date: April 10, 2015 (Friday)
Time: 08:00 P.M.
Place: Back Alley Theater, 5501 Colorado Ave NW, Washington DC 20011 (directions)
Tickets: $10at door

Come by 7:30 PM for a night of inspiration, in which three master improvising musician-composers will entertain:

Andrea Parkins: New York-based composer, sound/installation artist and electro-multi-instrumentalist; instruments include electronically-processed accordion, laptop electronics, and amplified objects

Ayman Fanous: Washington-based composer and improvisation musician; instruments include Spanish guitar and bouzouki

Jeff Surak: Washington-based composer and musician; instruments numerous electro-acoustic instruments and tape/cd/vinyl manipulations

(Parkins and Fanous first performed together as part of Fanous' residency at The Firehouse Space in Brooklyn in 2014.)

Video:

Social Media:
Facebook

Millennium Stage: Hanna Khoury and Nathalie Handal

2015-03-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

Date: March 12, 2015 (Thursday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis -- or watch live

Violinist Hanna Khoury with poet Nathalie Handal will explore Arab influences on Iberia's arts and culture over the centuries.

Performers:

Hanna Khoury (violin)
Nathalie Handal (vocals)

Video:

Kennedy Center: Post-Classical Ensemble's Iberian Mystics 2

2015-03-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

Date: March 11, 2015 (Tuesday)
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (directions)
Tickets: $30 general, online

[This is the second night's performance]

Washington's own PostClassical Ensemble brings back "Iberian Mystics: The Confluence of Faiths" after a decade hiatus, this time to the Kennedy Center.

This performance features the inspirational confluence of Islamic, Catholic, and Jewish influences prior to the Reconquest (1492) as a distinctive feature of Iberian culture, culminating in Flamenco.

This is the second of two nights of performance.

Program:

Traditional flamenco song and dance
Works by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Manuel de Falla, and Joaquin Nin-Culmell
Sephardic melodies
Music of Al Andalus

Performers:

PostClassical Ensemble with Angel Gil-Ordóñez conducting
Antonio Muñoz Molina - author
Pedro Carboné - pianist
Sonia Olla and Ismael de la Rosa - flamenco artists
Ricardo Marlow - flamenco guitarist
Trio Sefardi
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture
Mariana Mihai-Zoeter - soprano
Cathedra
Clark Young - host
Luz Nicolas and Hashim El-Tinay - readers

Social Media: Facebook event

Sponsors: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Millennium Stage: Al Andalusyun

2015-03-10T21:30:00.000-04:00

Date: March 11, 2015 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:00 P.M.
Place: Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center (directions)
Tickets: Free and open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis -- or watch live As part of its month-long Iberian Suite festival, the Kennedy Center presents Al Andalusyun, an Andalusian ensemble, featuring Hadi Eldebek on 'oud. Al Andalusyun brings to life the poetry and music of Andalusia. Performers:

Hadi Eldebek ('oud)
Abdallah Moussa (vocals)
Navid Kandelousi (violin)
Zafer Tawil (qanun)
Ramzi Edelbi (percussion)
Nick Chbat (percussion)
Mohamad Eldebek (percussion)

Video:

Kennedy Center: PostClassical Ensemble's Iberian Mystics 1

2015-03-10T10:50:00.000-04:00

Date: March 10, 2015 (Tuesday)
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (directions)
Tickets: $30 general, online

[For details about the second night's performance, please click here]

Washington's own PostClassical Ensemble brings back "Iberian Mystics: The Confluence of Faiths" after a decade hiatus, this time to the Kennedy Center.

This performance features the inspirational confluence of Islamic, Catholic, and Jewish influences prior to the Reconquest (1492) as a distinctive feature of Iberian culture, culminating in Flamenco.

This is the first of two nights of performance.

Program:

Traditional flamenco song and dance
Works by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Manuel de Falla, and Joaquin Nin-Culmell
Sephardic melodies
Music of Al Andalus

Performers:

PostClassical Ensemble with Angel Gil-Ordóñez conducting
Antonio Muñoz Molina - author
Pedro Carboné - pianist
Sonia Olla and Ismael de la Rosa - flamenco artists
Ricardo Marlow - flamenco guitarist
Trio Sefardi
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture
Mariana Mihai-Zoeter - soprano
Cathedra
Clark Young - host
Luz Nicolas and Hashim El-Tinay - readers

Social Media: Facebook event

Sponsors: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Kennedy Center: Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo-Ma

2015-02-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Date: March 1, 2015 (Sunday)
Time: 5:00 P.M.
Place: Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $45-$115 online at the Kennedy Center

The Silk Road Ensemble returns to Washington, DC. “Mr. Ma, in addition to having achieved the rare thing that is classical-music celebrity, traffics in big ideas. His—and by extension, Silk Road’s—particular brand of musical philosophy is, first and foremost, a belief in the arts as a critical yet oft-ignored ingredient in solving the world’s economic and political problems.” Wall Street Journal – October 13, 2013

“For musicians, much of life is spent on the road, performing in far-flung corners of the globe. They are thus uniquely positioned to take in the diversity of ideologies that people uphold as truth. But on a daily basis, they also see how music breaks boundaries. In the midst of political discord, the musicians within the Silk Road Project see an opportunity to foster other kinds of cross-cultural encounters.” Atlantic Monthly – October 10, 2013

Performers 2015:
Yo-Yo Ma: cello
Siamak Aghaei: santur
Kinan Azmeh: clarinet
Jeffrey Beecher: double-bass
Mike Block: cello
Nicholas Cords: viola
Sandeep Das: tabla
Haruka Fuji: percussion
Johnny Gandelsman: violin
Joseph Gramley: percussion
Hu Jianbing: bawu, sheng
Colin Jacobsen: violin
Eric Jacobsen: cello, conductor
Siamak Jahangiry: ney
Kayhan Kalhor: kamancheh, composer
Dong Won Kim: composer, jang-go, vocals
Kevork Mourad: visual art
Christina Pato: composer, gaita, piano
Shane Shanahan: composer, percussion
Mark Suter: composer, percussion
Kojiro Umezaki: composer, shakuhachi
Wu Man: composer, pipa
Wu Tong: bawu, composer, sheng, vocals
Yang Wei: pipa

Video:
BCove

Sponsors: Washington Performaing Arts