Access and post more content, build your own profile page -
Home » Arts » Artists

Carpet Concert features Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Music

posted May 16, 2011 - 3:32pm by Rebecca_D
CARPET CONCERT MAY 24TH WEAVES TOGETHER MIDDLE EASTERN AND CENTRAL ASIAN
CULTURES AT THE LEVANTINE CENTER IN LOS ANGELES

For Immediate Release [Los Angeles, May 16] Music is a celebration of life, love, and friendship-a universal language that is heard around the world. How can we further celebrate the patterns that connect us? Where can we experience a fusion of sounds that emphasizes unity? On May 24, 2011, Rowan Storm and Friends will present A Carpet Concert, with music from Armenia, Turkey, Greece, Iran, Arab lands, Spain and New York at the Levantine Cultural Center, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90035.

A Carpet Concert is a natural musical event where the primary seating is the carpeted floor. The most ancient music setting, the Carpet Concert emphasizes organic unity as the musicians and listeners are seated at the same carpeted level. Among other elements emanating from the same archetypal cultural roots, the patterns, textures, colors, tales and mysteries of life are woven into the carpets and music. Throughout the Middle East, the carpet is a visual image of the music, and the music is the sound of the carpet.

Carpets are sacred throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean. The most essential household furnishing, the carpet on the floor is where people sit, play, work, prepare food, eat meals, sleep and gather together to share stories, music and poetry. A clear line is drawn between the external world and the sanctity of the home environment as shoes are left at the threshold. Each individual is related to one another through the physical posture of sitting on common ground.


Among the sounds heard in A Carpet Concert will be vocals, oud, frame drums, clarinet, duduk and more, with Middle Eastern dance by Far'ha.

A Carpet Concert, May 24, 2011, 7:30 pm, featuring Rowan Storm, Naser Musa, Souren Baronian, Jim Grippo and Far'ha. Levantine Cultural Center, 5998 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90035. Price $15 advance purchase, $20 at the door. Bring a cushion for sitting on the carpeted floor. Space limited, RSVPs 310.657.5511.

For photos, interviews, or more information, contact Vanessa Pimienta, 310.657.5511.

About Rowan Storm

With more than 25 years of experience with cultures and drumming of the Middle East and Mediterranean, Rowan Storm is recognized internationally as a performer and educator. With a parallel study of brain function and wellness, Rowan is pioneering the symmetrical frame drum position. The shallow depth of Rowan's Frame Drum designs enables both hands to play all the strokes, while holding the drum equally with both hands. As the non-dominant hand is called into action, the rational is harmonized with the intuitive, and startling new sources of creativity are unleashed.

Throughout the US, Europe and the Middle East, Rowan has studied and performed with some of the greatest masters of Middle Eastern music. Maintaining a full international concert and workshop schedule, Rowan plays and teaches a wide vocabulary of drumming styles, and sings in several languages. Based on walking, Rowan's teaching method connects us deeply with our innate rhythmical nature while promoting balance between both brain hemispheres.

About the Levantine Cultural Center

Founded in 2001, the Levantine Cultural Center champions a greater understanding of the Middle East and North Africa, by presenting arts and educational programs that bridge political and religious divides. With activities based in Southern California, as well as a strong online presence that includes the Levantine Review, Radio Al-Fareed and Radio Tabbouli, the center reaches out to Americans and brings the Arab/Muslim closer into focus. The center partners with many interfaith and international initiatives.

Keywords: