Posts Tagged ‘jazz’

From the 7th to the 10th of July 2009, Jazz Lives in Syria will take place in Damascus Citadel for the 5th year in a row since its creation in 2004.

Jazz Lives in Syria, previously organized by the Swiss Embassy, and since 2008 organized by RAWAFED, the Cultural Project at The Syria Trust for Development (formerly known as “Culture & Heritage”), has become a significant annual meeting for jazz musicians from all over the world and the main platform for the development of jazz music in Syria.

RAWAFED is the Cultural Project of The Syria Trust for Development, a Syrian NGO chaired by H.E. Mrs. Asma Al Assad. The Trust aims to empower Syrian individuals in all walks of life to play an active role in building and shaping their society. Syria’s future depends on its people; therefore, The Syria Trust for Development seeks to encourage individuals and local communities to be agents for creating a positive change.

RAWAFED’s goals are to maximize the role of culture as a tool for socio-economic development, and to advocate the utilization of Syria’s rich cultural heritage and emergent contemporary creative industries to promote economic well-being and civil society.

Its programmes focus on drawing on core Syrian cultural strengths (assets and skills) to achieve its goals. Priority is given to activities that contribute to the capacity building of artists, planners and cultural managers. Key to our approach is the promotion of the work of Syrian artists and Syrian heritage, with a main focus on cultural experiences that fuse the contemporary with the traditional.

Jazz Lives in Syria reflects this vision through live concerts targeting a wide audience and workshops for Syrian young musicians and professionals with international jazz musicians, not only during the festival but also throughout the year.

Jazz Lives in Syria festival features classical and contemporary jazz music, focusing on the exceptional European jazz repertoire. The artistic vision of the festival also aims to highlight the experience of countries that adopted jazz music and created a fusion with their own music traditions, in order to inspire towards the development of Syrian jazz music in relation with the authentic music of this region and its rich cultural heritage.

Jazz Lives in Syria 2009 will continue exploring the experiences of international and local musicians in order to encourage a more professional practice of contemporary music genres in a country like ours with strong and enrooted music traditions.

Jazz Lives in Syria 2009 will take place in Damascus in April (workshops and concerts) and July (festival and workshops). Regional concerts will also be organized on the occasion of the festival in and outside Syria to expand and strengthen the Syrian network of contemporary music.

Now every Tuesday you can experience full jazz explosion at Dome…

Syrian-Lebanese, Armen Leonard has sung in more than 20 countries, including, England , France , Italy , Lebanon , etc. Originally Armenian, Armen sings in 9 languages and has been called in Kuwait Times, “Charles Aznavour of the Middle East ” He has recorded 6 personal Armenian albums and 2 International cover albums. His style ranges from jazz to pop, French ballads, Napolitano and 60s. Some of the songs in his repertoire are: My way, La boheme, L’italiano, New York New York , Besame, Et si tu n’existe pas, Aftos, guarda che luna, Unforgettable …

Bringing together an amazingly diverse array of musical influences, and drawing from a variety of musical traditions—namely Arabic, jazz, scat, opera and classical music; is what makes Hewar a truly unique venture. The band, building on the acclaimed individual talents of its members, juxtaposes and meshes these styles to create a truly one-of-a-kind genre-defying musical experience.

The band includes clarinet player Kinan Azmeh, Oud soloist Essam Rafea, and lyrical Soprano Dima Orsho, all of whom are alumni of the Syrian National Orchestra. They live in various parts of the world, however, which enhances the band’s cultural medley of influences and musical tastes.

Hewar released their first album in 2005 in Beirut and Damascus; it was produced by Incognito. The latter also released the band’s next album, ‘9 Days of Solitude’, in 2007; it was recorded in collaboration with three distinguished musical guests: Manfred Leuchter, Steffen Thormahlen and Antoine Puetz.

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