The Michigan Philharmonic and the National Arab Orchestra will perform side by side in the world premiere of Kareem Roustom’s Hewar on September 19 at Music Hall in Detroit. The performance is part of the inaugural Haflah! Arab Fusion Festival, a winner of the 2013 Knight Arts Challenge Detroit, an initiative of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Meaning “dialogue” or “conversation,” Hewar is “a musical expression of the interplay between musicians and between cultures,” says Nan Washburn, music director of the Michigan Philharmonic. “This concert collaboration has never been done before, and that’s one of the reasons the Michigan Philharmonic is so excited to work with Michael Ibrahim and the musicians of the National Arab Orchestra,” Washburn says. The program will also feature Middle Eastern-inspired classical music and pieces by composers from the Middle East, including Through Time by Qatari film music composer Wael Binali. Detroit Public Television will produce a video of the performance with support from the Knight Foundation, the Muna and Basem Hishmeh Foundation, and the American Syrian Arab Cultural Association. Read Symphony magazine’s Spring 2015 article on Middle Eastern orchestral composers, which reported on the National Arab Orchestra and the Michigan Philharmonic, here.
Posted September 18, 2015
