alf layla wa layla

Tireless performers rocked a version of the song alf layla wa layla (1001 nights), made famous by Umm Kulthum, on the bus ride after a gig in Helwan. Featuring Lillie Gordon on violin and Giselle Garcia as Umm Kulthum.

El-Tanbura

On one of our nights off in Cairo we were treated to an amazing performance by El Tanbura. The program notes describe the group: "El Tanbura is a collective of master musicians, fisherman, laborers and philosophers. For twenty years they have been the custodians of some of Egypt's oldest folk melodies at their home in Port Said, Mediterranean gateway to the Suez Canal. Their music is driven by the simsimiyya, an ancient instrument which dates back to the time of the Pharaohs".

Check out the groups website: ElTanbura.com

CDs can be purchased from Amazon.com

Many thanks to Christina Nelson for setting up the performance and introducing the group.

Visiting Kadry Sorour

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the home of Scott's friend and nay teacher Kadry Sorour. We visited, picked out nays and ate a delicious dinner of homemade kushri (an Egyptian dish of lentils, rice and pasta in a tomato sauce) and amr din (a dessert made with apricots, nuts, raisins and coconut).

In this photo Qadri is demonstrating how nays are made after a piece of reed has been selected and cut.

Cairo University

On July 18 we performed in front of the Central Library of Cairo University to a huge crowd of students. This gig was so much fun and the crowd was one of the most energetic and enthusiastic that we performed for. In fact, the authorities asked us to not include our dancers in one of our last pieces as they thought the crowd might get too rowdy! This video is a section of our version of Ghawazi Dance which we played before the authorities began to get anxious.

interview

We had the opportunity to interview many audience members after our performances and the responses were amazing and often very touching. We were very interested in responses to our selection and execution of repertoire and what Egyptian audiences thought about a bunch of Americans coming to Egypt to perform Egyptian music, among other topics.

In this video the eloquent and gracious `Ala Bekri, from Cairo, gives her thoughts about cultural exchange and the UCSB Middle East Ensemble after one of our performances at the Cairo Opera House.

The Cairo Opera House

Our four performances at the Cairo Opera House were a success! We had an intense four days of rehearsals and performances and the responses from the audiences were amazing. Stay tuned for some video footage of performances and interviews with audience members.

This is a photo of some of us taking a break from rehearsal and checking out the statue of Umm Kulthum on the grounds of the Opera House.

This is the hall in the Opera House where we performed on July 14-17.

Muhammad `Ali street

Tight schedules and dodgy internet have caused us to fall a little behind with our blogging, but it is time to catch up.

Here is a photo of of an 'ud maker on Muhammad Ali street. A bunch of ensemble members spent an evening walking around this part of Cairo which is known for its concentration of musical instrument shops.

tannoura at al-azhar park

This is a clip of musicians who are a accompanying Tannoura (skirt) "Sufi" dance at al-Azhar park. This clip focuses on the munshid (singer), percussion players and the kawala (flute) player but there are young dancers whirling in colorful skirts just outside the camera frame. See Jim Grippo's video of another performance in 2005 to get an idea of the full performance: YouTube - Tannoura "Sufi" dance, Cairo 2005

Though these performances are billed as "Sufi" there is no reference to any specific tariqa (Sufi brotherhood) which is usually important to Sufis. A very intriguing example of staged sacred/folkloric Egyptian performance with great music and dance.

yesterday

Members of the UCSB Middle East Ensemble participated in a workshop with young Egyptian musicians and children at the Heliopolis Public Library. We performed some songs and then enjoyed performances by the young musicians before we all played together. One of the highlights of the afternoon was this performance by the talented Aya Ayman who lives in Cairo.

More Press!

From Daily News Egypt (in English)

From El Shuruk (With a good picture)

Welcome to Cairo

We are now in Cairo! After a ten hour flight we were greeted at our hotel with mizmar, trumpets and drums. These guys played for about an hour and made us forget all about our jet lag!

The director of our ensemble, Scott Marcus, had arranged for the mizmar player Kamil Mitwalli (featured in the above video) and his zaffa (wedding procession) band to greet us. Scott has worked with Kamil on previous research trips to Cairo and he has written about him in his book Music in Egypt.

Waiting for our plane at JFK

We left Santa Barbara by bus at 1am on Friday July 9th and arrived at LAX at 3:30am. We hit the morning rush at LAX but managed to get forty-plus ensemble members on the plane bound for JFK in New York. After arriving at JFK in the afternoon we settled in and relaxed, slept, ate and played music while we waited for our plane to Cairo. Here is a clip of some of us playing some songs while waiting at JFK. Notice the Egyptians filming and singing along to the songs Hibbina and Hilwan min Yomna.

Our last rehearsal in the States

We had our last rehearsal here in the States this past Tuesday, July 6. Here is a clip of us rehearsing `atini an-nay (Give me the Nay), a song made famous by the Lebanese singer Fairuz. The lyrics were written by Khalil Gibran and the music was written by Najib Hankash. Here is a link to a translation of the lyrics:Fairuz - A'tini al-Nay

Here's the same article ...

In Seventh Day

From Al-Masry Al-Yum ... "The Egyptian Today"

Article about us

The title says: "The biggest Middle Eastern music ensemble in North America visits Egypt."

Local Press Coverage

Press coverage of the ensemble's Cairo trip from local Santa Barbara and UCSB campus-wide news:

UCSB’s Middle East Ensemble Gears Up to Go Global

http://www.independent.com/news/2010/may/31/ucsbs-middle-east-ensemble-gears-go-global/

UCSB Musicians To Hit Egypt’s Concert Circuit

http://www.dailynexus.com/2010-04-28/ucsb-musicians-hit-egypts-concert-circuit/

UCSB Middle East Ensemble to Perform in Egypt

http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2226

Ana Li Alayki

Rehearsing the Ziad Rahbani song Ana Li Alaki in preparation for our gigs in Egypt. This clip features our dancers.

The flyer for our Cairo Opera House gigs

We are very excited to have the opportunity to perform at the Cairo Opera House on July 14,15,16 and 17 2010

Less than a week before we leave for Cairo!

The UCSB Middle East Ensemble leaves for Cairo next Friday, July 9th. We have been putting in extra rehearsal time for the last month. Here is a short clip of us rehearsing the song Yalli Hawak which was sung by Asmahān (1918-1944) and featured in the 1941 film Intisār ish-Shabab(Victory of the Youth).