The Nazarian Center for Israel Studies is proud to join with the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and other project sponsors to present this major musical and cultural project, bringing together diverse Israeli and American, Jewish and Arab artists.  Acclaimed Arab-American composer Mohammed Fairouz, virtuoso clarinetist David Krakauer, esteemed Israeli composer Betty Olivero and Israeli Arab oud soloist Thaer Bader will be in residence at UCLA leading master classes, spearheading concerts and participating in university-wide panels.

At age 28, Mohammed Fairouz is already a well-known composer of operatic, symphonic, solo and chamber works -- an emerging compositional voice whose work is unique in its mediation of cherished Arabic musical traditions framed by formal Western musical procedures.

West Coast premieres of two of his works will be featured on the Royce Hall concert:  “Tahrir” (2011), a clarinet concerto written for David Krakauer incorporating maqam and klezmer; and Symphony No. 3 (“Poems and Prayers”) (2010) for mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra -- a work which interweaves Jewish sacred texts (Kaddish, Oseh Shalom) and contemporary poetry by Middle Eastern literary giants Yehuda Amichai, Mahmoud Darwish and Fadwa Tuqan.  “Kaddish,” a powerful and rarely performed cantata by the early 20th-century Russian-Jewish composer Alexander Krein, will complete the program. 

Israeli composer Betty Olivero, whose music incorporates Middle Eastern and Arabic accents, will be in residence for chamber performances of two of her works.  Music by Israeli composer Tsipi Fleisher will also be performed.  

Jerusalem-based oud soloist Thaer Bader will present a new work for oud and chamber ensemble, composed by UCLA faculty member David Lefkowitz. 

The residency will also include a symposium at the UCLA Hammer Museum entitled “Remapping the Middle East Playlist” featuring guest composers in conversation with other experts in the area of Arab-Israeli cultural collaboration, including UC Berkeley Professor of Ethnomusicology and Music Department Chair Benjamin Brinner.

For complete schedule and tickets, visit www.listeningtotheother.org

See the UCLA Today story on the series