Fourth International Conference on

“Arabic and Hebrew Strophic Poetry

 and its Romance Parallels”

 School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS],

Thornhaugh Street, London WC 1H 0XG

 

 London, 5-7 October 2007

 

Website: www.geocities.com/muwashshah

 

FRIDAY EVENING 5 OCTOBER

 

A SPECIAL PRE-CONFERENCE CONCERT

 

MOHAMMAD ANTAR [Cairo Group for Sufi Chanting and Zikr]

 

Egyptian ney player, Mohammed Antar is a musical composer, researcher and conductor of the Ensemble Munahah (formerly the Cairo Group for Sufi Chanting and Zikr).  His commitment to Middle Eastern classical and traditional music, especially in relation to spiritual music, has led him to master Arabic, Turkish and Persian ney playing techniques and styles.

 

TIME: 7.00PM

DATE: Friday 5 October

VENUE: ST ETHELBURGA’S CHURCH, BISHOPSGATE (Tube: Liverpool Street)

ADMISSION: £10

 

 

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SATURDAY MORNING 6 OCTOBER

 

NAJIB COUTYA [London]: “The Poetry of Sheikh Imam of Cairo”

 

DINA DAHBANY-MIRAGLIA [City University of New York]: “Horses, Heroes and Broken Hearts” [Abstract]

 

ED EMERY [SOAS, London]:  “The zajal in Lebanon and Palestine”  [Abstract]

 

MOHAMMAD ANTAR [Cairo Group for Sufi Chanting and Zikr]:  “The muwashshahaat of Ibn al-‘Arabi”  [Abstract]

 

SATURDAY AFTERNOON  6 OCTOBER

 

FEDERICO CORRIENTE [University of Zaragoza]: “A historical overview of Muwashshah and Kharja theories” 

 

GEORGE BEECH University of Western Michigan]: “Muslim Zaragoza as a focal point for the transmission of Arabic, Jewish, and Romance culture to Christian Europe later Middle Ages”  [Abstract]

 

ARIE SCHIPPERS [University of Amsterdam]: “Nissim ibn Shahin (990-1062), Josef Ibn Zabbara (1131-1209), Petrus Alphonsi (1062-1121) and the Medieval European Narrative Repertoire”  [Abstract]

 

CARL DAVILA [SUNY]: “The ‘Other Andalusian Music’: Andalusi Strophic Poetry in the Moroccan Samâ’ wa-Madîh“ [Abstract]
 

BENI MÜLLER [Switzerland]: "Levant – a Zajal in the Orient" [Film – 77 mins]  [Abstract]

 

 

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SATURDAY NIGHT MUWASHSHAH CONCERT

        

VENUE: Brunei Gallery Theatre at SOAS

DATE: Saturday 6 October 2007

TIME:: 7.30pm to 9.30pm

 

Performers:

 

MOHAMMED ANTAR [Cairo Group for Sufi Chanting and Zikr; vocals and ney]

 

KALIA BAKLITZANAKI [SOAS; vocals] and ABDUL SALAM KHEIR (oud)

 

NAJIB COUTYA [Lebanon, vocals and ud] and CAHIT BAYLAV [violin]: Songs of Sheikh Imam

 

Members of the BARDOS BAND, performing songs from the medieval repertoire

 

            REBECCA AUSTEN-BROWN: fiddle, flute

            ARNGHEIR HAUKSSON: gittern

            SOPHIA BRUMFITT: voice

 

Admission is free, with a bucket collection afterwards. All seats must be reserved in advance by sending an e-mail to ed.emery [@] soas.ac.uk

 

 

SUNDAY 7 OCTOBER

 

 

SARA MANASSEH [London]: “Poetry and Music in Shbahoth: the Muwashshah in Babylonian Jewish Paraliturgical Song“ [Abstract]

 

SAADANE BENBAABALI [Sorbonne]: “The Heirs of Ziryab in Paris: the artists and associations working for the transmission of the Arab-Andalusi heritage in France”  [Abstract]

 

SUSANA WEICH-SHAHAK [Hebrew University of Jerusalem]: “Zajal structures in the repertoire of the Judeo-Spanish coplas oral tradition”  [Abstract]

 

YOSEF TOBI [University of Haifa]: “Music and Musical Instruments in Spanish Medieval Hebrew Poetry: The Praise Poem of Yosef Ibn Saddīq (Justo)”  [Abstract]

 

 

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Please note the following event, which is separate from the main part of the conference.

 

THURSDAY EVENING 4 OCTOBER

 

SEMINAR: The Singing of Sheikh Imam of Cairo [Imam Isa].

 

The evening will include

 

*  presentations of previously unavailable film and audio material

*  seminar presentations on the Sheikh and his work;

*  live performance of the Sheikh’s songs..

 

VENUE: School of Oriental and African Studies [SOAS]

DATE: Thursday 4 October 2007

TIME:  7.00pm to 10.00pm

 

 

Ends

 

 

 

 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

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