Featured Performers

Naser Musa with special guests The Georges Lammam Ensemble

Naser is recognized by critics of middle eastern music as a talented singer, a gifted songwriter an Oud virtuoso, a valued composer and a valuable studio musician. Naser has composed, arranged and recorded numerous projects in the Middle East and the US. His recodings include "Khaliji" (RT Productions): a collection of folk songs from the Arabian Gulf region. Naser Musa's name appears on dozens of albums, including contributions on projects for Hollywood with John Debney and John Cameron, among others. He has recorded with pop stars Shakira, Beyonce and Michael Sembello. Naser Musa has shared the stage with Lebanese vocalists Sabah and Ragheb Alame, and Egyptian vocalists Hani Shaker and Hakim. Naser's oud was heard on the soundtrack of the film "The Passion of the Christ" by director Mel Givson. An active and sought after performer, Naser has perfomed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Hollywood Bowl, the United Nations and Chicago's Symphony Hall. He toured the US, South America and the Middle East, and he regularly performs with the prominent ethnomusicologists Dr. A.J. Racy of UCLA and Dr. Scott Marcu of UCSB. Mr. Musa was also a featured soloist with the Cairo Orchestra during its 2005 U.S. tour with Grammy award winners Youssou N'Dour of Senegal and Egyptian producer and arranger Fathy Salama. The Washington Post described his compositions as "stirring"; the Beirut Times described him as one of the most versatile vocalists and Oud masters of the Middle East; and the Al Qabas newspaper of Kuwait described him as a talented songwriter with a soothing voice that touches the heart. For more information, see www.nasermusa.net

Joining Naser as special guests will be the Georges Lammam Ensemble, which he performed with at the 2003 Arab Festival.

Music Performances

Ahmad Hawasli/Sons of Hagar

One of the Sons of Hagar (pronounced Hajar), Ahmad is an Arab-American Hip Hop artist. With a unique style that reflects the diversity and complexity of his own background, Ahmad seemlessly delivers bilingual lyrics and a fresh blend of Arabic and American musical tradition. Currently the artist is exploring his artistic potential and expanding his musical repetoir.

The Sons of Hagar is an Arab-American Hip Hop group.  With their brave and upfront lyrics, the Sons of Hagar have come a long way since their debut album "Inside to Outside".  Two brothers making the Syrian duo and one European American, they are as outspoken as they are talented.  The topics covered range from speaking out against the oppression of the Palestinian people to the current issues faced by Muslims and all minorities in America today.   One can easily wonder where hip-hop music will go next.
 

Fathia Atallah

Fathia Atallah is a composer and a jazz vocalist from Toulouse. She directed Le Centre Français on Broadway in Seattle for 5 years and continues to sing and teach French in the Francophile community. She sings many well-loved Jazz standards in English and French, as well as her original compositions and traditional French songs for children. More at www.fathiainseattle.com/index.htm

George Sadak

George is a drummer, percussionist and a recording artist, Egyptian born and raised. He studied several hand drums as well as the drum set. His emphasis ranges from Egyptian music to the eastern Arabic gulf. He spent 9 years in Los Angeles, where he toured and co-produced several international acts before settling back in the Seattle area to rejoin his Family's group, the MB Orchestra. Today he performs with several groups as well as his own solo performances. He teaches Egyptian tabla in his home studio in Edmonds and is currently working on his solo debut album. George has performed with Arab stars Rabeeh El Khawli, Ihab Tawfik, Assi Elhelani, Wael Al Kafoury, Magdy al Housseiny, Issam Houshan, and Jillina to name a few.

Hejira

Lead by Don Baragiano, Hejira is comprised of as many as 7 band members and frequently includes dancers. Joining him today are Ashraf Hakim, Egypt's world-renowned cellist, who was 1st chair cellist for the Cairo Opera House for 18 years; Scott Small and Yasmin on percussion, and Cosmo Damian on 6-string bass. Together, they represent a wide variety of styles of music."

House of Tarab

 House of Tarab music ensemble performs classic Arabic music of the 1940-1970s from Egypt, Lebanon and Syria as well as traditional folk music from throughout the middle east.  Using traditional Arabic musical instruments -- ney, oud, violin, riqq and tabla -- they perform all over the northwest and are often accompanied by bellydancers.

Maurice Sadak Rouman

Maurice was born and raised in Southern Egypt. He has spent over 40 years performing and composing Middle Eastern music, with an emphasis on ancient Egyptian or "Pharoah" music.  Maurice graduated from the Conservatory of Milan in the early 1950's, and spent the next 30 years performing throughout the Middle East and Europe. In the early 1980's he relocated to the US, where he has been teaching and performing ever since.  

Mashriq

Mashriq means "East" in Arabic, Persian and Turkish. The band, as its name suggests, blends classical and folk music styles from all over the area of the Middle East and Central Asia and blends them in one homogeneous style. That includes Arabic, Persian, Kurdish, Turkish, North African and Central Asian Classical and Folk music. The band members also compose contemporary pieces influenced by classical and folk music from these regions in what might be referred to as 'Contemporary Classicism'. More at http://mashriqseattle.com

MB Orchestra

No Arab Festival in Seattle would be complete without the MB Orchestra.  Comprised of Maurice Sadak Rouman (see above), Bahaa Sadak. George Sadak (see above) and Shiham Sbait, this family band has been playing in the Seattle area since the early 1980s.  

Musical Director Bahaa is a keyboard player, a vocalist and a recording artist.  His musical career started in Alexandria, Egypt, where he co-founded the MB Orchestra and recorded the group's first album in 1977.  Bahaa's classical roots have enabled him to create a unique blend of modern and classical Arabic music that has earned him widespread recognition across ethnic communities and the Western world.  

Shiham began his musical training in junior high, studying violin for several years with Simon Shaheen, a celebrated musician iof the Middle East.  In high school, Shiham began singing while learning the tabla and performing for a variety of local bands.  He also became a lead Dabka dancer with the folk dance team in his home town of Haifa.  In 1979, he moved to the US and began singing and playing at premiere Seattle clubs and events such as Bumbershoot, Folklife Festival and weddings.  He has recorded two albums and has been performing with the MB Orchestra since 1983.  More at www.themborchestra.com

Omar Haggag

Born in Cairo Egypt, Omar moved to the US in 2007. Omar studied Oud with the renowned Iraqi Oud master: Naseer Shamma. He was trained in Shamma's school of Oud: 'Beit El Oud Al Arabi', Arabic House of Oud, to be a soloist Oud player. A soloist Oud player ,as Shamma puts it, is the player who "can perform a full concert alone with an Oud, with no other instruments accompanying him/her". Omar performed in Naseer Shammas all-Oud orchestra for four years in Cairo, Paris and Morocco. He performed in the Cairo festival of Arabic Music in the years 2001, 2002 and 2003; in the Arabic Music Festival in Institute de Monde Arab, Paris and in Aseela Music Festival, Morocco.

Dance Performances

Dahlia

Dahlia was born to a family of musicians, artists and singers and has been surrounded by music and song throughout her life. She studied traditional Western dances, such as ballet and tap, at a very young age. Later, she studied flute and drum. She has been married for ten years and has two daughters. She will perform a sequence of saidi, assaya and khaliji dances.

Elisa Gamal

A melaya is a large piece of black fabric that was used by Egyptian women in the early part of the last century as a modesty wrap over their street clothes.  In the 1940s Mahmoud Reda introduced the sassy, flirty melay leff character dance as part of his folkloric troupe's theater show; today's dance stars in Cairo frequently include a melaya leff tableau as part of their show.  Learn more about Elisa at www.elisagamal.com

Gigi Gulhan

Gigi was born and raised in Turkey. She is a talented Orientale style bellydancer who also performs the rom dance style of Turkey. She has also come to the attention of local Arabs as someone who interprets Arab music well.

Karavans Dance Troupe

Directed by Mish Mish, Karavans can be seen at a number of local ethnic festivals on a regular basis.

Malia

Malia lives in Lynnwood, WA with her husband and daughter and is happily 6 months along with their next child. Today she will bring her favorite style of Egyptian dance to stage; saidi and raqs al assaya, commonly referred to as cane dance. This dance originates from the Said (upper Egypt) and is playful take on the men's Tahtib, or stick dance. More information at www.maliaraqs.com

MEAI Dance Company

MEAI Dance Company is a professional performance troupe associated with Middle East Arts International, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to nurturing cross-cultural awareness through promoting excellence in Middle East-inspired dance and music. They will be performing a Raks Assaya dance choreographed by the legendary dance master Yousry Sharif. www.middleeastarts.org

Sabura

Of Syrian-Lebanese heritage, Sabura performs and teaches Middle Eastern dance throughout the western U.S. and Canada. Her goal is to create greater public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the vast variety of Middle Eastern dance, music and cultures. She is in the process of producing a performance dvd, which will be available through her website: http://home.att.net/~sabura

Shahrazad Dance Ensemble

This year marks Shahrazad's sixth Arab Festival; they have also been regular performers at the Cultural Crossroads and Folklife events and are perhaps best known for their traditional folk dances. Shahrazad was recently selected to offer a series of performances through the King County Library System as part of their "Many Voices, One Land" program. More information can be found at www.shahrazadensemble.com

Siraj

Under the direction of Omar Batiste and with help from Laila Taji, Siraj recently came into being after several years hiatus. They will perform some lively debke dancing.

Zulaika

Zulaika's career in Arabic dance spans 30 years. In Minneapolis, she was a founding member of Jawaahir Dance Company, a soloist at Arabic restaurants, and a teacher at the Cassandra School. Zulaika currently lives and teaches in Bellevue. More info at www.pcauch.com