Discover the rich musical tradition of the Arab world with acclaimed Palestinian musician Nai Barghouthi and her ensemble members. This introductory session explores the rhythms, scales or maqams, improvisation, and ornamentation that give Arabic music its distinctive character. Don’t miss their concert on October 25!
The event is free and open to the public.
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Event Information
Join the renowned Palestinian singer Nai Barghouthi and percussion virtuoso Ruven Ruppik for an introduction to the foundations of Arabic music. This is an interactive session, and participants can choose to join in the singing and percussive exercises, or to observe from the audience. No prior knowledge of Arabic music is required. The artists will unpack and illuminate the complex rhythmic traditions of Arabic music, the expressive world of maqams (the Arabic equivalent of scales), and the central roles of improvisation and ornamentation.
Biographies
Nai Barghouti is an award-winning Palestinian singer, composer, and flutist. From her first concerts in Ramallah and Cairo at the age of 14 through her packed concerts at the London Jazz Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, the United Nations in New York, and in renowned theaters in Paris, Washington, Toronto, Montreal, Istanbul, Amsterdam, London, Oslo, Casablanca, Rabat, Tunis, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Beirut, the Jerusalem-born artist has been praised as a “classical diva” and an “exceptional virtuosa.”
Nai combines her talent with academic study and achievement to deepen her knowledge of music and vocal technique. She first studied classical music at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and then jazz and vocals at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she was awarded a Master’s degree with highest honor in music. In her studies, Nai explored the nexus between Arabic Tarab music and Jazz, eventually inventing her own unique vocal technique - NaiStrumentation. This technique was featured on many of her works, including her highly acclaimed performance at the prestigious A Colors Show in Berlin in 2024.
Ruven Ruppik is a percussionist, specialized in different traditional music styles. He started at the age of 8 and quickly developed a special affinity for rhythm, groove, and all kinds of percussion instruments. During his classical percussion studies at the Detmold University of Music, he began to play traditional music from Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, and Turkey in addition to western-classical and contemporary music. Ruven has a bachelor’s degree in World Percussion and a Master’s in North Indian Classical Music (Tabla) from Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam. He collaborated with Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Estrella Morente, Sami Yusuf, Paco Peña, Bassam Saba, José Manuel León, Nai Barghouti, Niladri Kumar, Carles Benavent, Aynur, Jorge Pardo, Kudsi Erguner, Rosario Toledo and Rima Khcheich.
Besides touring in Europe, China, Japan, Canada, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Oman, Lebanon, Palestine, and Saudi-Arabia, he has given numerous workshops and master classes all over Europe and teaches percussion at the University of the arts in Zurich, Switzerland.