Alwan for the Arts presents the debut concert of Takht Al-Nagham with Syrian vocalist Wajdi Ayoub, for a night of Aleppian classical music. The concert will feature a repertoire of Muwashahat, Mawawil, Qasa’ed, and Qudud, as well as instrumental improvisations. 

Wajdi Ayoub is a very well-established Syrian Mutrib* who specializes in the classical Arabic repertoire, with a focus on the Egyptian dawr genre and the Andalucian Muwashahat genre that is the musical hallmark of the city of Aleppo. Ayoub was born in Aleppo, Syria, and started to sing and play the Oud at an early age. He was a student of Abdel-Qader Hajjar and Kamel Bassal (both students of sheikh Omar Al-Batsh, a prolific composer of Muwashahat) and of Safwan Al-Abed. Ayoub performed many concerts at the Citadel of Aleppo, both as a solo artist and as part of Sabah Fakhri’s ensemble. Since he relocated to the United States late 2016, Ayoub has been a regular performer and voice teacher. 
*Mutrib is a traditional Arabic singer who, aside from possessing a beautiful voice and great diction, is well versed in the repertoire and in the Arabic Maqam tradition. As such, the Mutrib is the main vehicle to conveying the feeling of "Tarab" (musical joy and euphoria) to the audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvnGJax1Ebw

Takht Al-Nagham is a New York-based ensemble founded by Syrian violinist Samer Ali, that treasures the sound of an Arabic Takht (Arabic chamber group) and is committed to performing the classical Arabic repertoire with traditional and acoustic instruments. The word “Nagham” means melody/tune in Arabic, but is also used as a synonym to the Arabic Maqam system which is the foundation and main focus of the ensemble’s repertoire.

Takht al-Nagham includes the following members:
Violin I: Samer Ali
Violin II: Muhammad Abdullah
Oud: Rachid Halihal
Qanun: Firas Zreik
Riq: Johnny Farraj
Tabla: Rami el-Asser
Double bass: John Murchison
Chorus: Fouad Salloum, Emad Botros, Salah Zane

*Tickets*: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2936459

For more information, please visit:
http://www.alwanforthearts.org/event/1172
http://www.samerali.com/

Takht Al-Nagham logo design: Amr Hatem
Takht Al-Nagham calligraphy: Lukman Ahmad