Carleton Presents World-Renowned Lebanese Musician in Concert
October 6, 2010
Carleton College invites the public to enjoy an evening of Arab music presented by Bassam Saba and his ensemble. A world-renowned Lebanese nay and oud virtuoso, Saba is considered to be one of the most respected performers of classical Arab music. Saba and his ensemble will perform in concert on Thursday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. in the Carleton College Great Hall. His performance is part of a two-day residency at Carleton, Oct. 7 and 8.
Saba is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso of the nay, an end-blown flute prominently displayed in Middle Eastern music. Saba is also a talented multi-instrumentalist, performing as well on the oud (a pair-shaped string instrument), violin, saz (also part of the Middle Eastern stringed-instrument family), and western classical flute. Saba is a member of Simon Shaheen’s Near Eastern Music Ensemble, Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, and performs extensively in the United States, the Middle East, and throughout Europe. Saba has worked with some of the world’s most prominent Arab musicians, including Fairuz, Marcel Khalife, Ziad Rahbani, Wadi El-Safi, and Kazim al-Saher, as well as western musicians such as Paul Simon, Alicia Keys, Sting, and Herbie Hancock.
Saba will be joined in concert by his ensemble, featuring Jamal Sinno (qanun), April Centrone (percussion), and Yaron Klein (violin, oud), who is also an assistant professor of Arabic at Carleton College.
This special performance is the first public event organized by Carleton’s newly launched Department of Middle Eastern Languages, and is part of the College’s Middle East Initiative.