Alhan Middle Eastern Music Ensemble to Perform with Jamileh & Friends Dancing Troupe
Come enjoy an evening celebration of traditional Arabic music and belly dancing with classically trained performers


PORTLAND, ME April 03, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Alhan Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, performers of classical and popular Arabic and Ottoman music from the 17th to the 21st centuries, will be performing with Jamileh, a troupe of traditional dancers, for a rare performance of Middle Eastern Music and Dance at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on 425 Congress Street Saturday, April 4 at 8 pm. Tickets to the show are $12 at the door, with children under the age of 12 are free.

Alhan's traditional and contemporary Middle Eastern Music repertoire is drawn from noted composers of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. The group will perform "Muwashshahat," a classical song form developed in 10th century Andalusia and performed throughout the modern Arab world. Also featured are selections of classical and popular Arabic songs, including compositions of the Rahbani Brothers written for the great Lebanese singer, Fairuz, and several instrumental pieces written for Raqs Sharqi by the Egyptian composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab.

"One of the distinct features of both Arabic and Ottoman music is the advanced system of chords and musical intervals capable of producing an unlimited range of expressive melodic possibilities," Tom Kovacevic, a musician in the band, said. "Combined with the physical expression of dance, the evening will offer the audience a truly rare and beautiful performance of Middle Eastern Music and Dance."

The musicians' performance will be enhanced by traditional belly dance performance art, which is very popular in Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey. Jamileh and her troupe will perform "Raqs Beledi" a solo folk dance of Egyptian women with variations native to many regions of the Middle East and Raqs Sharqi.

Alhan musicians will plays a number of instruments unique to Middle Eastern Music, including the "oud," a short necked fretless lute; the "riqq," a tambourine played by a varity of hand positions; and the "nay," a rim blown bamboo flute which traces its ancestry back to Sumer.

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