The Middle Eastern Music Ensemble is coming to Old Dominion University to give a concert at Chandler Recital Hall on Feb. 17 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The concert will feature traditional muwashshahat, an Arabic poetic form and musical genre that typically consists of five stanzas with a refrain in between each. Popular songs from Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan will also be performed. Dabke dancing and singing along are encouraged.

The Middle Eastern Music Ensemble was founded in 1994 at William & Mary, welcoming student, faculty, and local musicians to explore the music styles from Arab, Turkish, Persian, Armenian, and Greek repertoires. The current director of the ensemble is Dr. Anne Ramussen, a professor of music and ethnomusicology at William & Mary. 

The instrumentation remains flexible, typically including an ‘ud (pronounced “ood”), several violins, 1-2 violas, cellos, a bass, a nay (rhymes with “high”), a qanun (pronounced “kanoon”), and a saxophone, clarinet, accordion, piano, Arabic synthesizer, or harmonica as needed. The ‘ud is a pear-shaped, fretless lute, the nay is a reed flute, and the qanun is a 75-string lap zither. The ensemble also includes various percussion instruments such as the tambourine, Tablah/Darabukah drum, Daff, Tar, or Bendir frame drums, the Riqq, the Tabl Baladi, Marawis, and Sagat. 

The group generally puts on 1-2 full-length concerts per semester, typically featuring a guest artist. They also do several shorter performances at various events on campus and in the community, such as the concert they will be giving at ODU. The ensemble has traveled abroad to Morocco and Oman.

For more information about the concert, contact Dr. Shadi Bayadsy. For more information about the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, click  here.