Middle Eastern Jazz Fundraiser with Wanees Zarour at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts -- August 28.
Friday, August 28, 7:30 p.m.
Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth Street, Coralville IA
On August 28, patrons of the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts are invited to join award-winning Palestinian American composer and buzuq/oud player Wanees Zarour and his ensemble for the Middle Eastern Jazz Fundraiser, a special performance in support of Hope Foundation’s Gaza humanitarian relief efforts. The program features songs from Palestine and the broader Levant region, honoring the depth, beauty, and resilience of these indigenous and deeply rooted musical traditions.
Lauded by the Chicago Reader as a talent who "makes meaningful, seamless connections, rigorously integrating disparate styles so they make musical sense," Zarour is a community leader who believes in creating an environment that is conducive to artistic expression and collective music making. He directs the Middle East Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago, co-directs the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra, and leads "East Loop," a septet that explores the intersections between the maqam and jazz traditions. Born into a family of musicians, Zarour started his Western classical training on the violin at the age of seven at the Edward Said Conservatory of Music, where he showed extraordinary talent and fast advancement in his musical education. A few years after, Zarour started his training in Maqam, Middle Eastern Repertoire, the Arab violin tradition and picked up the buzuq, a long-necked chordophone most common in the Levant region. Learning from the masters, Zarour was able to acquire an extensive knowledge in maqam, Middle Eastern musical forms and rhythms. Zarour is a virtuoso on the buzuq, in addition to playing the oud, violin, and percussion.
Based in Chicago since 2003, Zarour founded Duzan Ensemble (2007) performing traditional Arab and Turkish music. In 2005, he joined the faculty at the Old Town School of Folk Music, teaching Rhythms, Maqam, Improvisation and Middle Eastern Ensemble classes for tenure that lasted a decade. Five years later, Zarour became the director of the Middle East Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago, which grew under his watch to become a 50-to-60-piece orchestra that performs Turkish, Arab and Persian music in front of large audiences. At the ensemble, Zarour works on building a cohesive community of musicians and artists around the ensemble, and transcribes and arranges all the music that is performed by the group. With a large following, the ensemble performs four concerts per year to a sold-out audience, featuring guest artists from around the world.
In the Friday-night fundriaser, Zarour will be joined by vocalists Sham Abyad, percussionist Karl El Sokhn, bassist Kitt Lyles, and guitarist Samuel Mosching for an evening of music rooted in memory, longing, solidarity, and hope. Through beloved songs and evocative arrangements, the ensemble invites audiences to gather in community and support urgent humanitarian efforts for Gaza.
The Middle Eastern Jazz Fundraiser with Wanees Zarour will take place at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts on August 28, admission to the 7:30 p.m. concert is $18-23, and more information and tickets are available by calling (319)248-9370 and visiting CoralvilleArts.org.
