The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble will perform its winter concert at 7:30 p.m. on Mar. 16 in Spanos Theatre.
The Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble performs art and popular music from a wide range of Arabic-speaking societies as well as selected seminal pieces from Southwest Asia and North Africa, the ensemble website reads.
According to their website, the event will feature a wide range of rhythmic modalities, as well as examples of muwashshah, a genre of poetry and music that stems from 10th-century Andalusia in the southern Iberian Peninsula.
Biochemistry sophomore Abigail Blair who currently serves as Kappa Alpha Theta’s Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, encourages her members to attend this event to learn more about Arab culture.
“I think that it’s important to learn about other cultures because it allows us to gather new perspectives on the world,” Blair said. “There will always be new things to learn and having more insight makes it possible to see the world in a fulfilling and thoughtful way.”
Professor Kenneth Habib, who teaches a variety of music classes, is also a composer, performer and ethnomusicologist.
“I direct the ensemble, which has been a part of my teaching load since coming to Cal Poly,” Habib said. “The ensemble includes an orchestra and choir with a membership that represents a wide range of majors on campus and professions off campus.”
Dr. Habib will direct the event and the show will include one of his original compositions and arrangements.
His original composition includes ‘Samai Hijaz,’ which is the centerpiece of a musical suite that Habib composed and is slated to arrange for the Lebanese National Orchestra. His original arrangement on the program is of the song Ah Ya Zayn, which has traveled widely from its Eastern Arab origins into the larger region.
Performances by the Cal Poly Arab Music Ensemble include formal concerts at the end of the quarter in addition to optional shows on and off campus for special occasions.
Dr. Habib and his ensemble encourage all students to attend this event and learn more about music and dance.
“This concert is an opportunity to learn about and appreciate Arab art and popular music and dance, which otherwise is difficult to find in the area,” Habib said.
Tickets are $15 and $20 for the public, $10 for students and can be purchased on the Performancing Arts Center website. Event parking is sponsored by the PAC. Cal Poly faculty and staff receive a 20% discount on individual tickets.
The event is sponsored by Cal Poly’s music department, College of Liberal Arts and Instructionally Related Activities program.
For more information, visit the music department website.