[Virtual] A Conversation with Simon Shaheen

Monday, February 7, 2022
12:30PM-1:50PM
Zoom

Monday, February 7, 2022

12:30PM-1:50PM

Zoom

In partnership with International House and UChicago Presents, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies hosts a conversation with composer, oud and violin player, Simon Shaheen. Shaheen is one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process. This unique contribution to the world of arts was recognized in 1994 when Shaheen was honored with the prestigious National Heritage Award at the White House.

This program is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Simon Shaheen dazzles his listeners as he deftly leaps from traditional Arabic sounds to jazz and Western classical styles. His soaring technique, melodic ingenuity, and unparalleled grace have earned him international acclaim as a virtuoso on the ‘oud and violin.

In the 1990s he released four albums of his own Saltanah (Water Lily Acoustics), Turath (CMP), Taqasim (Lyrichord), and Simon Shaheen: The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab (Axiom), while also contributing cuts to producer Bill Laswell’s fusion collective, Hallucination Engine (Island). He has contributed selections to soundtracks for The Sheltering Sky and Malcolm X, among others, and has composed the entire soundtrack for the United Nations–sponsored documentary, For Everyone Everywhere. Broadcast globally in December 1998, this film celebrated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Charter.

For more information about Simon Shaheen, visit the UChicago Presents website.

Presented by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, UChicago Presents, and International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series.

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