Lebanese National Conservatory plans Jazz Fest
The only Jazz Orchestra in the Middle East, the Big Band of the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music (LNCM), will present a free concert featuring specially composed newly released pieces arranged by, among others, multiple Grammy Award Winner Michael Mossman, a renowned New York-based hard bop jazz trumpeter. The January 26th event takes place at the USJ Abu Khater Theater, near the National Museum, inBeirut Lebanon – a nation now surrounded by the worse refugee crisis in the Middle East since World War II resulting from the ongoing brutal civil war in bordering Syria.
“Music is the meeting place and the common denominator among humanity, even during wartime”, explains lead Alto Saxophone player and Big Band manager Thomas Hornig, a native of Minnesota, USA and longtimeBeirut resident. “Somewhere between Lebanon, the United Sates, Syria and the rest of the world, people of all stripes will always meet over music. It is our differences which make us strong and give us hope.”
Horning, who has toured extensively throughout Lebanon, Syria, the Gulf States, North Africa, Europe and theUSA, was initially inspired to organize the concert when meeting many Syrian musicians who are now refugees inLebanon. Their new life is in stark contrast to the culturally rich history of Syrian society, which before the war enjoyed a robust international arts and music scene.
The unprecedented crisis in Syria has forced over 1 million refugees to flee the brutality and bloodshed of their homeland and take shelter in Lebanon. The Big Band of the Lebanese National Conservatory, whose 19 professional musicians hail from many different nations, was formed just around the start of the Syrian civil war and is a reflection of the extraordinarily cosmopolitan and hospitable nature of Lebanese society.
The concert will feature Charbel Rouhana, a renowned musician, composer, artist and academic whose performance career has taken him around the globe. Rouhana is one of the few internationally renowned masters of the Arab Oud, a type of traditional lute. The concert represents a rare opportunity to hear an Oud, which is one of the most popular musical instruments in the Middle East and, in the history of music, also one of mankind’s very first instruments dating back over 5,000 years.
This world premiere performance of the Oud accompanying a Jazz Orchestra was made possible by Mr. Pierre Doumet, President of Jabal Moussa, part of the UNESCO Global Network of Biosphere Reserves. Doumet commissioned the music and brought all musicians from around the globe together for this highly unique collaboration.
Members:
Charbel Rouhana – Composer, Oud , Vocals
Thomas Hornig – Band Manager, Alto Saxophone / Flute
Alin Tataru – Alto Sax / Flute
Nidal Abou Samra – Tenor Sax
Bruno Mokbel – Bari Sax
Elias Mouallem – Tenor Sax
Ion Todei – Trumpet
Viaceslav Bilia – Trumpet
Paissios Metny – Trumpet
Hayssam Mehbani – Trumpet
Florinel Barladeanu – Trombone
Alexandru Tapes – Trombone
Igor Vataman – Trombone
Ruslan Plamadeala – Trombone
Iurie Postolachi – Tuba
Christopher Ibrahim – Piano
Joseph Aouad – Guitar
Ruedi Felder – Acoustic Bass
Fouad Afra – Drums
PROGRAM:
1. Siwar – Arr. John Yao
2. Dangerous Woman – Arr. Suhee Choi
3. Rosana – Arr. Suhee Choi
4. Playful Dream – Arr. Doug Pierce
5. Mada (Co-Composed by Hani Siblini) Arr. Doug Pierce
6. Sleepless Nights – Arr. Lukas Pfeil
7. 13th of July – Arr. Suhee Choi
8. Kenet Lyem – Arr. Suhee Choi
9. Ahla Hdiye – Arr. Suhee Choi
10. Coffee – Arr. Doug Pierce
11. Flamenco – Michael Mossman
For more information and tickets, please contact:
LNCM Big Band Manager Thomas Hornig at: +961-3409921, info@tomhorning.com
Lebanese National Conservatory at: +961(0)1489530-1-2
SOURCE Lebanese National Conservatory of Music (LNCM)
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
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Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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