“Music Goes to College” Series Continues November 19 at Trent University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Free, Public Concert to Feature the Alpharabius Ensemble

Friday, November 16, 2007, Peterborough

As part of the “Music Goes to College” series, a free, public concert, featuring the Alpharabius Ensemble in a concert of classical Arabic and western medieval music and dance, will be held in the Great Hall in Trent University’s Champlain College on Monday, November 19 at 1 p.m.

The Alpharabius Ensemble explores the connection between the repertoires of classical Arabic and European medieval music. Named after one of the great philosophers of classical Islam, al-Farabi, known in the West as Alpharabius, the ensemble performs a wide variety of music from all around the Mediterranean. The concert will include songs and dances from Syria, Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, France and Italy.

The basic ensemble of four professional musicians with wide interests and abilities is directed by internationally-acclaimed qanun virtuoso George Sawa., and includes Suzanne Meyers Sawa (percussion and voice), Andrea Budgey (voice, rebec and violin), Randall Rosenfeld (flute and vielle). At Trent, they will be joined by guest artists Bulbul Shehadeh (voice and ‘ud), and Nada (dancer).

The concert is the second event in the “Music Goes to College” series, which is funded through the generous support of the Trent University Academic Innovation Fund and Trent’s Colleges. The series is an initiative of the Committee to Support Music Activities and Resources at Trent (SMART), spearheaded by Timothy McGee, the 2006 Ashley Fellow and an honorary professor at Trent. Prof. McGee is Canada’s leading specialist in the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and is a noted authority on the music of Canada.

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For more information, please contact: Jeannine Crowe, Cultural Studies, Trent University, 705.748.1011 x1771; or Timothy McGee