Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 7 September 2023: This year's Arabic Music Days will focus on the oud, the unrivaled queen of Arabic music. Five days in September will honor the centuries-old tradition of the instrument as well as its role in contemporary culture. In concerts with the Ahmad Shamma Quartet, Islam Taha & The Cairo Oud House Trio, Sherine Tohamy & The Abu Dhabi Oud House Trio, and the Nehad El-Sayed Quintet, the short-necked lute will be heard in different settings—including an oud quartet a well as ensembles featuring saxophone or strings. For the festival’s finale, curator Naseer Shamma will lead a veritable oud orchestra. Many of the performers are representatives of the Oud Houses in Cairo and Abu Dhabi, which Shamma has established as teaching centers. Visual art, film, literature, craft, and poetry will provide additional perspectives on contemporary Arabic culture.
As in previous years, a comprehensive program will amplify different voices of contemporary Arabic culture. In a workshop and exhibition, luthiers will provide insights into the craft of instrument-making. Artist and jewelry designer Azza Al Qubaisi creates sculptures out of gold, silver, wood, and steel. With references to the culture and nature of her homeland, the United Arab Emirates, her works reflect different aspects of her identity.
Poets Fawziyya Abu Khalid (Saudi Arabia) and Lorca Sbeity (Lebanon) will accompany the concerts with readings of their works.
All visitors of the Arabic Music Days will receive online access to stream Iraqi director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s film Hanging Gardens on the digital platform of the Pierre Boulez Saal. Set in post-war Baghdad in the 2010’s, it recounts the coming-of-age story of 12-year-old Asad and his older brother. Naseer Shamma is among the world’s foremost players and teachers of the oud. He trained at the Music Academy in Baghdad with Iraqi grand master Munir Bashir and from 1993 taught for five years at the Conservatory in Tunis. In 1998 he founded the first Oud House in Cairo, a school dedicated entirely to his instrument.
Other schools have subsequently opened in Abu Dhabi, Alexandria, Khartoum, Baghdad, and Riad. He has performed with musicians from a wide range of backgrounds, and in many of his projects combines traditions and instruments of classical Arabic music with those of Western music. In 2017, he was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace. As curator for the Arabic Music Days, he has been closely associated with the Pierre Boulez Saal since its opening.
Concerts:
September 13, 7:30 pm: Ahmad Shamma Quartet
September 14, 7:30 pm: Islam Taha &The Cairo Oud House Trio
September 15, 7:30 pm: Sherine Tohamy & The Abu Dhabi Oud House Trio
September 16, 7:30 pm: Nehad El-Sayed Quintet
September 17, 7:30 pm: Naseer Shamma & Mitglieder des 2350bc Orchestra
Tickets are now available on the
Pierre Boulez Saal website, at the box office, or by calling +49 30 4779 7411.
