Fall of the Moon
An Homage to Mahmoud Darwish and the Spirit of the Arab Spring
Featuring Marcel Khalifé and The Mayadine Ensemble (with Oumeima Khalil and Yolla Khalife)
Sunday, September 30 (7:00 pm)
Myer Horowitz Theatre, SUB, U of A Campus
(Click here for map)
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The great Marcel Khalife will play a special night in Edmonton in homage to the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, with all proceeds from the show going to support Humanserve International‘s projects in Lebanon.
Ticket prices range from $35.50 (for students) to $80.50 (main floor seating) and can be purchased online or by phone at 1.877.965.3338.
About the show
The poetry of Palestine, the melodies of Lebanon. Uniting across national, ethnic and religious lines, resounding above the din of bitter politics, rockets, poverty. Singing for the shade of grapevines, the bright eyes of loved ones, the heartache of divisions and decline that could be healed, love that could be returned.
Khalifé and the Al Mayadine Ensemble—including female vocalist Oumaima Khalil, and Bachar Khalifé on percussion—tour Canada this autumn, including performances in Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.
About Marcel Khalife
Marcel Khalifé, Lebanese master of the oud (lute), evokes this world, honoring the spirit of his late friend and collaborator Mahmoud Darwish, a strikingly original poet born in Galilee. Khalifé’s oud trembles, rumbles, sighs, and resonates beyond cultural specificities. Too often compared to Bob Dylan because of his firm counter-mainstream stance, Khalifé’s work can shift between the sweet melodic sensibility of Cole Porter and the gravitas of the best of Western chamber music, between the heady daring of jazz experimenters and rock defiance.
Now, as protesters rally in the streets across the Middle East, they sing his songs. Khalifé has come out as an ardent supporter of the Arab Spring. “I sang for them,” Khalifé explained in a recent statement protesting government crackdowns on protesters in Tunisia, Bahrain, Egypt, Syria and across the Arab world, “and they gave me the feeling that they were my kin, that they were the source of strength to bring about the impossible.”
The Darwish/Khalife Connection
The connection to Darwish began the first moment Khalifé opened one of his early books of poems. Over three decades, it evolved into a bosom collaboration that was more than the sum of its parts. Though from different countries and religious backgrounds, both artists shared a sense of desperation about the state of their homelands and the world.
Together, these two iconic figures of contemporary Arab art and culture achieved one of Khalifé’s life-long goals: to give voice to the voiceless. His art has won him recognition from UNESCO, who declared Khalifé an Artist for Peace in 2005. It has been featured on the world’s most prestigious stages and in major feature films like 2007’s Rendition. In a newly awakened Middle East, Khalifé’s works continue to inspire and transform, reminding singers and listeners of their innate humanity and dignity.
For more information please contact:
Kamil Issa: (780) 619-7373
Nizar Ali: (780) 913-5695
This event is brought to you by Limak Investments Inc. and Folksways Alive.
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK 