Al-Bustan presents a collaborative concert featuring Lebanese composer, singer, and oud master MARCEL KHALIFE with AL-BUSTAN TAKHT ENSEMBLE led by Music Director Hanna Khoury, and special guest appearance by renowned pianist RAMI KHALIFE.
The concert highlights the poetry of Palestinian icon Mahmoud Darwish with selections from Khalife’s latest tribute to Darwish in Andalusia of Love. Selections of Darwish’s poetry will be read by literary scholar Huda Fakhreddine.
Marcel Khalife – oud, vocals
Rami Khalife – piano
Hanna Khoury – violin
Kinan Abou-afach – cello
Hafez Kotain – percussion
Huda Fakhreddine – poetry reading
Andalusia of Love CD signing by Marcel Khalife following the concert
Time: 8:00 PM
Location: The Unitarian Society of Germantown | 6511 Lincoln Drive – Northwest Philadelphia
Tickets: $30
Marcel Khalife is an internationally acclaimed Lebanese composer, oud master, and singer. Born in Amicht, Lebanon in 1950, Khalife began his music career studying the oud at the National Academy of Music in Beirut. He garnered attention early in his career in the Middle East and abroad for shining light on the oud as a solo performance instrument. In 1976, he formed the Al Mayadeen Ensemble and began to experiment synthesizing Arabic classical modes with contemporary Western instrumentation, and integrating poetry in his musical repertoire. Khalife is distinguished by his dedication to the ideals of humanism and music’s ability to impart these ideals. This humanism has been a driving force of his music, which crosses the barriers of nationalism, religion, and culture. Moreover, Khalife’s music has the ability to give voice to those who have none. As he notes: “Nothing justifies our art other than to speak for those who cannot speak. This is the cause for which we dedicated our efforts, and the cause that endorsed our voices. We only wished to take it as far as we can, and vowed to release our work as songs of love for, and unity with, the victims of persecution everywhere.” In 2005, Khalife was named UNESCO Artist for Peace for his achievements as an artist and humanitarian. In 2008, he was named the music director and resident composer of the newly formed Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.
About Andalusia of Love as reviewed on NPR by Banning Eyre:
Khalife’s new album, Andalusia Of Love, combines classical, jazz and folk idioms with poetry to create a provocative new work… Andalusia is a region in the southern parts of Spain and Portugal, where Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together for centuries during medieval times. For Khalife, that history is an enduring reminder that peaceful cohabitation is possible for people of these faiths… On this album, the composer and poet [Mahmoud Darwish] conjure a world they can only imagine, but that burns within them like the memory of a first love…This brooding, beautiful, urgent music may call you to spend an hour in a world where peace is not a dream, but a hard-earned reality.
OF NOTE: Marcel Khalife’s son Rami Khalife, pianist and composer, is performing with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on December 4 & 5, 2016. More Info & Tickets — Al-Bustan friends can use promocode “COPALBUSTAN” for 20% discount
