NIU’s 2017 World Music Festival “Roots & Blossoms” is approaching.
The NIU Middle Eastern Music Ensemble, directed by Omar al Musfi will kick off this year’s festival at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, in the NIU School of Music Recital Hall.
Guest soloist Rabie Azar (violin) will join the musicians as they perform a wide array of traditional and contemporary Arabic and Turkish music.
All the events in the 2017 “Roots & Blossoms” World Music Festival are open to the public free of charge.
For more information, email Aerie Dover at aeriedover@gmail.com.
Wednesday, April 5
The NIU Chinese Music Ensemble will present a concert of Chinese and Taiwanese traditional and pop music in the School of Music Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m. under the direction of Chuan-Yuan “Alex” Wang and Jiaqi Li. The group performs on an assortment of traditional Chinese lutes, flutes, bowed strings and percussion.
Thursday, April 6
Aaron Marsala & Friends World Percussion Group will perform in the School of Music Recital Hall at 6:30 p.m..
Friday, April 7
The Northern Wind Trio, a world music fusion lab, conducted by Zac Economou, Tamir Hargana and Aaron Marsala, will perform at 6:30 p.m. in the School of Music Recital Hall.
Saturday, April 8th
Chinese zither (guzheng) comes to NIU in a concert performed by Qi Yu at 3:00 p.m. in Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
At 7:00 p.m. in Boutell Memorial Concert Hall, Tamir Hargana and friends will bring the sounds of Mongolia to the NIU concert stage when he gives a throat singing and horse-head fiddle performance.
Sunday, April 9
The 2017 World Music Festival concludes with the 3 p.m. World Music Concert, “Roots and Blossoms,” in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
The World Music Concert is an annual celebration of our community’s musical bounty. This year’s concert, “Roots and Blossoms” explores the transmission and transformation of culture as music and dance. Come hear children and adults, students and professionals, locals and friends from abroad cherish the traditional and create the new.
In addition to showcasing NIU’s gamelan, Chinese, and Middle Eastern ensembles, the program also includes flamenco guitar and dance, world music fusion groups Hiraeth Quartet and Northern Wind, and two Chicago-based student groups: the Korean Pungmul (folk music) group from the Global Pungmul Institute, directed by Byoung Sug Kim and Suwan Choi; and the Mariachi Juvenil Embajador de México, directed by José Ozuna.
Dedicated to preserving the traditional music of their respective cultures, these groups help audiences to recognize the educational value of the NIU World Music Festivals by keeping musical traditions alive.
