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SUFI MUSIC CONCERT
KARIMA SKALLI & ASIL ENSEMBLE
Through a repertoire of Andalusian music, composed from Riad ElSumbati and sung by the legendary Umm Kulthoum, and contemporary compositions by Mustafa Said, Moroccan singer Karima Skalli and the Asil Emsemble perform three Burdas - musical cycles combining poetry and music, inspired by the greatest Arab composers and poets of past centuries.
A classical Burda, with words from from a 12th-century Al Busari poem, is followed by the magic of Ahmad Shawqi's Nahj El Burdah composed from Riad ElSumabti and sung from Umm Kulthoum in the mid-1940s. The concert concludes with a contemporary composition by Mustafa Said written by Palestinian poet Tamim Barghouti.
The Beiteddine Art Festival was founded during the Lebanese Civil War in 1985. It was a true act of faith towards Lebanon's cultural distinctiveness, its creative force and its freedom of artistic expression. Born in really difficult times, the Festival has grown and has done so against all odds. Today, directed from Nora Jumblatt, it is celebrating thirty years since its inception and is one of the Middle East's most celebrated cultural events, welcoming some of the biggest names in the field and attracting tens of thousands of spectators each summer to the beautiful courtyards of the ancient Palace, a jewel of Lebanese architecture, where it takes place.
Building on a prestigious past and a brilliant present, the Beiteddine Festival and the Spoleto Festival are joining forces this year in order to create a common artistic platform for Middle Eastern and European culture, a concrete collaboration leading to the future realization of a shared artistic language.
As a first step in this direction, The Beiteddine Art Festival presents to Spoleto58 a concert of Sufi music.
Asil Ensemble for Arab Contemporary Classical Music
composition, oud, singing and vocal improvisation **Mustafa Said **
singing and vocal improvisation** Karima Skalli**
qanoun and singing Ghassan Sahhab
nai** Mohammed Antar**
santour and singing** Bilal Bitar**
violin and singing Khalil AlBaba
viola and singing Reda Bitar
cello** Tony Hawwat**
soprano oud Farah Qaddour
oud base and singing** Firas AlAndari**
reqq, duff and singing **Ali Hout **
dumbak, daraboukka, duff and bandir **Joss Turnbull **
program
Part 1:
Contemporary Aqsaq
Mustafa Said, 2011
Burdat AlBusairi
words Mohammad Said AlBusairi -1292
Moroccan song of the 14th-15th centuries.
Nahj ElBurdah
words Ahmad Shawqi -1932
music Riad ElSumbati -1981
First sung from Om Kulthoum in 1946
Part 2:
Burdah
words Tamim AlBarghouthi
music Mustafa Said
first performance with the Asil Ensemble to Beirut, May 22, 2014
E.T.C. light adjustment. Italy www.etcconnect.com
Now North Africa's foremost singer of religious songs, Karima Skalli began her career at the Marrakesh Conservatory of Music after winning a national prize in Arabic singing. from then, she specialized in devotional music inspired by the verses of the great Arab poets and the mystical songs of the Sufi orders (religious brotherhoods) found throughout the Islamic world. She has performed in all major international theaters and festivals introducing a wide audience to the beauty of the musical path to God as it is described in the Muslim tradition.
Founded in 2003 by Egyptian musician and musicologist Mustafa Said, Asil Ensemble is a group of talented musicians united by a desire to try their hand at a contemporary form of Arabic classical music, based on the principle of inner growth and adaptation of pre-existing musical patterns. The ensemble has participated to various festivals around the world, including the Fes Festival of Sacred Music, the Azerbaijan Festival, and the Paul Klee Festival in Switzerland.