Al-Bustan is pleased to present Crossing Genres: A Journey through Arab, Korean, and Latin Musical Traditions!
Kinan Abou-afach – cello | Shinjoo Cho – bandoneon & accordion | Hafez Kotain – percussion
Concert @ Al-Bustan’s Hub
Watch Online, followed by Conversation with Artists
Date: Friday, October 23, 2020 (Eastern Standard Time)
Time: 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Tickets: $10
Performance link will be sent in advance of the event
We are grateful for the support of PNC Arts Alive and William Penn Foundation in making this concert possible.
Kinan Abou-afach
Kinan Abou-afach, a Syrian-born cellist and composer, is a recipient of the 2013 Pew Fellowship in the Arts. He received his Bachelors degree in cello performance with a minor in oud performance from the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus. He relocated to Chicago in 2000 to pursue a master’s degree at the DePaul University School of Music. He studied under Stephen Balderston, assistant principal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s cello section, and was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for several years. As a composer, Abou-afach crafts music that is saturated with unique scales, rhythmic grooves, and improvisation-esque progressions. His works are influenced by Eastern and Western traditions. Al-Bustan has commissioned him for several new works, notably: “Of Roads and Homes” premiered in March 2018; “Nur: A Musical Journey in Sufi Poetry” premiered in April 2016; “Of Night of Solace: Fantasia on Andalusian Muwashshah Poetry” premiered in December 2015; {De}perception with digital artist Ayman Alalao premiered in May 2015; and “Roads to Damascus” with visual artist Kevork Mourad premiered in February 2013.
Shinjoo Cho
Hafez Kotain
Hafez Kotain is a master percussionist fluent in both Arab and Latin rhythms–a fluency he honed in his native countries of Syria and Venezuela. In 2013 he received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, a prestigious award given to Philadelphia artists of exemplary talent. Born in Venezuela of Syrian heritage, he grew up in Syria until the age of 16 years. He began playing the doumbek at the age of seven years, made his first stage performance at nine years, and went on to study with master Syrian percussionist Hady Jazan, winning the national percussion competitions in Syria for five consecutive years. In Venezuela he studied percussion at the TMV Institute for Music in Valencia, where he also taught middle and high school students for several years a variety of percussion styles blending Arab and Latino music. Kotian has toured with Syrian singer George Wassouf in Canada and the US; and has performed in Philadelphia with acclaimed artist Sting and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Kotain teaches percussion classes at the University of Pennsylvania, and throughout the year he is a master teaching artist with Al-Bustan at Philadelphia public schools, Al-Bustan Camp, and various community-based programs.
