Simon Shaheen performed his first American concert to a tiny crowd of 30 people at New York City's Alternative Museum in 1980. Nearly three decades later, he was approached by Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center for Performing Arts to put together his own ensemble honoring Arabic music for the center's month-long "Arabesque" festival celebrating Arab culture.
But instead of just one performance, Shaheen put together a month-long U.S. tour, which begins tonight with the world premiere of Aswat: The Golden Age of Arab Music in Page Auditorium.
Shaheen, whose father was a composer, grew up playing the violin and the oud, a pear-shaped predecessor to the lute that Shaheen considers the "central instrument of Arabic traditional music." By the age of 5, Shaheen had studied violin at the Conservatory for Western Classical Music in Jerusalem and was regularly performing throughout his native Palestine. Since then, Shaheen has been at the forefront of modern Middle Eastern music, infusing his knowledge of traditional Arabic melodies with jazz, pop and Western classical styles.
"Shaheen is, almost without question, the best-known Middle Eastern musician in the United States. He plays music that is traditional while being simultaneously aware of the world in which we live," said Aaron Greenwald, director of Duke Performances. "He is a very incisive artist. When he embarks on an ambitious project like this, he knows what he wants to do."
When Shaheen moved to New York in 1980, he found the music scene lacking in substantial Middle Eastern representation.
"There was no real presentation of Arabic music; it was only viewed as the music of the cabaret and of belly dancing... like all respected music of the world, it had to be performed in front of viewers and with care," Shaheen said.
To establish Arabic music as a creative and viable art form in America, Shaheen has continued to play in arts centers, museums and universities, culminating in the formation of the Near Eastern Music Ensemble in the late 1980s, a collection of likeminded Middle Eastern musicians.
In Aswat (Arabic for "voices"), his latest and perhaps most ambitious project, Shaheen recreates the golden age of Arab Music, which he said stretched from the 1920s to the 1950s. For the performance, Shaheen amassed a 15-piece Arabic orchestra and recruited leading vocalists from Palestine, Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria, all with the goal of channeling the musicians he calls the "cornerstones of Arabic singing." A montage of film clips showcasing the performances of classic Arabic musicians will also be shown throughout the performance, honoring the importance of film in their musical careers.
"I couldn't have asked for a better beginning to the project. This is the premiere; it is very significant and very special," said Shaheen, whose company has spent the last three days on campus getting to know Duke presenters, officials and students.
Even though the sounds might be new to students and Triangle residents alike, Shaheen is confident his music will entertain concertgoers.
"I believe that there is a place for any tradition in any culture," he said. "There will be a recognized synergy between us and the audience... they will sense the talent."
Aswat: The Golden Age of Arab Music will have its world premiere in Page Auditorium tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students, $22-$38 for others.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.