By Hazami Sayed,  Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is thrilled to be awarded a Knight Arts Challenge Grant in 2011. This grant, along with matching funds from other supporters, has allowed us to implement an idea that was seeded two years ago: establishing an Arab Music Concert Series in Philadelphia. The past few months have been a flurry of activity for us. What typically would have been a quiet August as we wind down and take time-off after our annual summer camp, this year we were busy contacting artists abroad and within the US, coordinating with various partners, assessing our production needs, establishing for the first time a series subscription, and the list goes on….. now thankfully the pieces have fallen into place and our first concert is only a few days away.

The Concert Series offers the Philadelphia community an opportunity to hear exemplary Arab classical music on a regular basis, probably the first of its kind in the country. Music Director Hanna Khoury will lead a resident ensemble in performances with different guest artists. The idea of featuring different acclaimed guest artists to perform with a resident ensemble provides wonderful opportunities for local musicians and makes for an engaging and more affordable model to implement.

In an effort to expand our reach and bring in new audiences, we created last week a promotional video in which Khoury introduces the concert series and invites the Philadelphia community to purchase their subscriptions. The video can be seen above. To facilitate the ticketing process, we set up an eventbrite page where subscriptions and individual tickets can be purchased.

We open the series this week with Syrian vocalist Youssef Kassab performing selections by Egyptian icons Umm Kulthum and Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Farid al-Atrash of Syria, and other artists who shaped the golden age of Arab music and continue to be among the most famous musicians and composers in the Arab world.

We hope the Philadelphia community will join us for the opening of the 2011-2012 season of the Arab Music Concert Series on October 29, 8pm at the Trinity Center for Urban Life in Center City. For more information, please visit our website.