Entertainment Program for Sunday,August 26th
*For entertainer bios see below*
1:00-1:30 Opening Remarks
1:30-1:40 Comedy by Sami Abdoun
1:45-2:30 Moh Alileche and Ensemble
2:35-2:45 Al-Juthoor-Debkeh troop
3:00-4:00 George Lammam and Ensemble (Lebanese,Egyptian and Khalije songs)
4:10-4:20 Leila Tayeb-(Arabic/Modern Dance)
4:20-4:30 Dina Omar-(Poetry)
4:30-4:40 Politikal Heat (Hip Hop)
4:50-5:50 Patriarch and Shadia Mansour (Hip-Hop)
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Scheduled Festival Performers
 Georges Lammam Ensemble
Georges Lammam, the second of three brothers who are professional musicians, has been on stage since the age of 15. Of Palestinian descent, born in Beirut, Lebanon and living for 14 years in the United Arab Emirates, He is well-known in the Middle East and the United States as a solo violinist exemplifying the Arab style of instrumental improvisation and lyricism.
Currently living in San Francisco, as artistic director of The Georges Lammam Ensemble, he and the ensemble have performed at the San Francisco World Music Festival, The Legion of Honor Museum, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, The Fine Arts Cinema in Berkeley, and many more local and national venues.
Mr. Lammam is instructor of violin and Arabic singing at the annual Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp in Mendocino , California and has taught Arabic music ensemble and vocal classes at the University of California at Berkeley , Humboldt State University , Santa Fe College and Middlebury College in Vermont .
Well-versed in the beautiful repertory of classical and popular Arabic music from Egypt Lebanon and beyond, Mr. Lammam records as a featured artist with two notable fusion groups, Shabaz and Ancient Future and has performed in a select ensemble under the direction of Mickey Hart. "Dreaming the Diaspora", his new recording of original music fusing Eastern and Western musical sensibilities was released in August, 2006.
For more information or to listen to artist tracks-
http://www.amorfiaproductions.com/
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 Naser Musa
Guest artist Naser Musa, joining the Georges Lammam Ensemble for this festival, is recognized as an oud (Arabic lute) virtuoso and a talented singer and composer. A Jordanian of Palestinian descent based in Los Angeles, he has composed, arranged, and recorded numerous projects in the Middle East and in the United States. Musa has shared the stage with Lebanese vocalists Sabah and Ragheb Alame, and Egyptian vocalists, Hani Shaker and Hakim. He has toured the United States, South America and the Middle East, and he regularly performs with the prominent ethnomusicologists Dr. A. J. Racy of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Dr. Scott Marcus of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
He was recently featured as a soloist with the Cairo Orchestra during its 2005 U.S. tour with Grammy award winners Youssou N'Dour, of Senegal and Egyptian producer and arranger Fathy Salama. Al Qabas newspaper of Kuwait described him as a talented songwriter with a southing voice that touches the heart.
He has been on the faculty at the Middle Eastern Music and Dance Camp in Mendocino, California since 1999 and at the Heartland Seminar of Arabic Music in Racine, Milwaukee since 2004. He also represented the Arab world in the World Culture Open in 2004, in New York, NY.
For more Information or to listen to artist tracks-
http://www.nasermusa.net/
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 Moh Alileche and Ensemble
Moh Alileche invokes of his Algerian homeland with traditional and original songs and instrumentals. Born in the mountainous Kabylia region of Algeria , Moh Alileche has nurtured his love for music since childhood. At age nine, he taught himself to play traditional Amazigh (Berber) music on a hand-held, single-stringed instrument made out of an oil can. As a young adult, his talent led him to the traditional North African mondol, a 10 double silk-stringed instrument which is a larger version of the mandolin.
Moh's music celebrates the culture he was born into, the Amazigh (pronounced AM-uh-zeer) people (also known colloquially as Berber), who were North Africa's indigenous inhabitants for thousands of years before Islam and Arab conquest, and who still make up one-third of Algeria's population. He grew up in the mountainous Kabylia region east of Algiers , and began playing music as a child with a single-stringed instrument made from an aluminum can.
Since moving to the Bay Area in 1990, Moh has shared both his music and culture. In addition to original compositions, Moh performs reworkings of traditional North African Amazigh songs, mixing instrumentals and vocal numbers on an array of topics.
His music can now be heard on many public radio stations in the US , Canada , Europe and Australia . In 2001, his music was part of the soundtrack for the documentary "The Visionary," which aired on many PBS stations. His third CD," North Africa 's Destiny?," indeed, won the IAP title of "Best World Music CD-Africa 2005."
For more information or to listen to artist tracks-
http://www.flagoffreedom.com/
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 Al Juthoor
Al Juthoor ("Roots"), founded in January 2005 in San Francisco, is a folkloric dance company whose mission is to present and preserve Palestinian dance, music, and culture and to support the Palestinian cause. Dabkeh is the indigenous folk dance of the Levant region of the Middle East, which includes Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and portions of Jordan and Iraq. This dance is customarily a part of any social or celebratory event, such as parties and weddings. It is performed as an improvised, communal line dance that young and old take part in, with the leader at the head of the line directing the variations of steps.
Dabkeh groups that present staged versions of this folk dance are common in the Middle East as part of state-sponsored or community folk dance groups. Al-Juthoor's artistic growth and level of respect in the community has shown steady and progressive increase since its founding. From its early days, Al-Juthoor has received strong support from the Arab community and has been in high demand for performances, most recently appearing in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.
For more information visit website-
http://www.al-juthoor.com/
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 Patriarch
on the streets of the Bronx in the 70s, it has been a mechanism by which disaffected people have expressed their concerns and empowered themselves through music. Through the years, different groups have put their own stamp on the rap world and this tradition continues today through a Palestinian-American man who goes by the name of Patriarch.
Born in San Francisco and raised in the East Bay, Hayward, California, Patriarch's love for communication through art began early. His talent later manifested itself in a lyrical form of music - hip hop.
It is the dichotomy of the struggle of the African in America and the plight of the Palestinians that makes Patriarch's choice to rap a natural one. Hip hop is like air for Patriarch. With a determination to change the world through his art, this Son of a Refugee is destined to touch the lives of true hip hop fans, make a difference and introduce you to a whole new shade of hip-hop.
Patriarch has now worked or performed with such great artists such as, The Dogg Pound, The Outlawz, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Akon, Tyrese, San Quinn, D12, Obie Trice , Furious, Get Lit Ent. and the list goes on. Patriarch has traveled across the world to perform and is only getting started.
For more information or to listen to music samples-http://www.myspace.com/patriarch1
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 Shadia Mansour
Arabic/ Hiphop artist Shadia Mansour...a British born Palestinian at 21 years of age delivers her melodic voice, in both English and Arabic, blending traditional and classical Middle Eastern sounds into smooth but powerful soul. At 18, Shadia wrote and produced her own album "Incomplete" performing at various venues including the famous 'Soul Cafe' in downtown Manhattan.Opening for 'Busta Rhymes' and 'Mobb Deep' at the PALADIUM Club, NYC. She has appeared on various T.V and Radio Stations in New York City.
For more information or to listen to music samples-http://www.myspace.com/shadiamusic
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 Politikal Heat
Palestinians in America putting their narratives on track. Politkal Heat is a Hiphop crew and an ideology to speak on subjects rejected by newspaper editors and those in power. The group consists of 4 rappers: Kalamati, T.I.G. (via Ramallah), ill-Hesh'em, , and Rithmatik (via Detroit) are releasing a bilingual album intended to introduce each emcee and dedicated to all those struggling for freedom.
For more information or to listen to music samples-
http://www.myspace.com/poliheat |
Sami Abdoun Egyptian-American, Sami Abdoun is an up and coming talented stand up comedian. He has done several shows around the Bay Area and will taking his one-man show around the country in the near future.
Leila Tayeb is a local Libyan-American Dancer who fuses together Arabic, modern and Hip Hop music and dance. Through her performances she aims to combat Orientalist exotic notions of Eastern culture while also challenging patriarchal values that exist within.
Dina Omar is a Palestinian-American poet in her junior year at University California Berkeley majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and Anthropology. She has been a part of the Palestinian American Women’s Association for five years performing monologs and poetry as well as displaying photography and is deeply committed to help educate people about women, Muslims, Arabs, Iraq and most of all, the Palestinian plight through the arts. She has published 4 poems in The Pacific Review Literary Journal.
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Center for Middle Easter Studies, University of California at Berkeley