Music Director Wanees Zarour (left) discusses the Middle East Music Ensemble and the upcoming concert.

On Sunday, December 2nd, the ensemble will perform a FREE concert in the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts’ Performance Hall. What traditional Middle Eastern instruments will the audience be hearing in this concert?

In addition to the classical western string and woodwind instruments, you will hear stringed instruments unique to the Middle East such as the Oud, Kanun, Lauta, Baglama, Tar, Buzuq, as well as woodwinds such as the Turkish style G Clarinet, and ney. Our percussion section includes Bendirs, riqs, darbukas, and kudum. We have the complete Turkish set.

For those who have never attended a Middle East Music Ensemble concert, can you give an example of what the repertoire of a typical concert consists of? In choosing repertoire for your concerts, do you draw on a wide variety of composers from different countries or is the repertoire often times from a featured country, area, or from a specific time period in the Middle East? Continue reading →