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Event details

Mizna is honored to host Essam Rafea once again after a captivating, sold-out show in August. This concert is Mizna’s arts contribution as community partner to a University of Minnesota symposium on Arab American culture and history and an exhibit about early Arab American life, titled, Little Syria, NY: An Immigrant Community’s Life & Legacy.

OPENING RECEPTION FOR “LITTLE SYRIA” EXHIBIT, Oct 24, 4 pm
SYMPOSIUM ON ARAB AMERICAN CULTURE, Oct 25
ESSAM RAFEA CONCERT, Oct 25 8 pm
OUD WORKSHOP, Oct 26, 1 to 4 pm
Emerse yourself in Arab American culture!

ABOUT ESSAM RAFEA
Oud master and Damascus native Essam Rafea has recently settled in Dekalb, Illinois. Rafea is the Chair of the Arabic Music Department at High Institute of Music in Damascus and the principal conductor of Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music. Essam has performed in France, Spain, Morocco, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait, and Syria, and won first prize in the oud category at the 2000 Cairo Improvisation Competition.

Essam is the founder of the award-winning Syrian takht ensemble Twais and the international ensemble Hewar. He has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Jean-Christophe Frish’s Musiques des Lumières XVIII-21, and Blur frontman Damon Albarn, on his project Gorillaz.
Listen to Essam Rafea.

ABOUT THE OUD WORKSHOP
The day after the concert, Essam will also be offering a hands-on workshop on Arab music for local musicians. Topics will include ornamentation, improvisation, and maqamat (the melodic modes of Arab music). The focus will be on developing fresh ways of elaborating melodic sentences. All instruments and levels of ability are welcome; participants should be able to read staff notation, and of course should bring their instruments.
Saturday, October 26th, 1-4pm
$40 cash or check, collected at workshop
on University of Minnesota campus (TBA)
to reserve a space email Matt Rahaim at mrahaim@umn.edu

ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBIT
The Symposium on Arab American Culture and History will highlight the Little Syria exhibit and conclude with the performance by Syrian oudist Essam Rafea. The symposium will also include keynote addresses by the notable scholars Evelyn Alsultany and Gregory Orfalea, both of whom have been published in our literary journal, Mizna: Poetry, Prose, and Art Exploring Arab America.

Symposium on Arab American Culture and History
October 24 & 25
RSVP by October 17
https://events.umn.edu/Arab-American-History-and-Culture-Symposium-029563.htm

Little Syria Exhibit
Opening reception and lecture October 24, 4 p.m.
https://events.umn.edu/029561
Exhbit runs from October 10, 2013 to January 15, 2014

Both at University of Minnesota’s Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 21st Ave S #120, Minneapolis, MN 55455

Co-presented with the Arab American National Museum and the following University of Minnesota Departments:Religious Studies, Immigration History Research Center, Immigration History Research Center Archives, Friends of the Libraries, University Libraries, Global Studies, English, Philosophy.