Get some comic relief and laugh about the Middle East with one of L.A's hottest comedy group, the Sultans of Satire, in a special performance featuring Middle Eastern comics with guest star K-von. The Sultans of Satire are seriously funny-if you love to laugh, if you need to laugh, you'll appreciate this show with its satirical insights and fresh perspectives on American and Middle Eastern life. The humor is universal; the comedans hail from the Middle East and North Africa! This show's cast features Noël Elgrably, Zara Mizrahi, Sammy Obeid and Mona Shaikh, with specal guest K-von. The Sultans of Satire is the longest-running Middle Eastern stand-up comedy show in the U.S. Features some of the best young stand-up comedians today from diverse faiths. This show cosponsored by Freedom Theatre West. Tickets/info 323.413.2001. Watch video clips at sultansofsatire.com.

The Levantine Cultural Center has canceled the Charming Hostess concert this evening and will reschedule for a future date. We apologize for this inconvenience. Please watch our website for future dates.

Charming Hostess is a music ensemble exploring the intersection of text, space, and diaspora consciousness. Recent immersive installation work includes The Bowls Project, on Babylonian amulets (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts); HEAVENSHOW, on letters and breath (Contemporary Jewish Museum); and Teraphim, on the joys of idolatry (Meridian Gallery). Their music has been curated into the Prague Bienalle and the Museum of Peace in Uzbekistan. Visit the web site.

"'Arabesque' was out of this world amazing. We enjoyed it very much and can't wait for the encore." —Laila El-Hajoui 

"Great event at the Levantine Cultural Center Saturday night...the music took my soul on a beautiful journey." —Nancy Tedder 

The Levantine Cultural Center presents an encore performance of "Arabesque" with Al-Fareed of Radio Al-Fareed, AKA Alfred Madain and a group of musicians, the band calling itself Bedouin X. The band members are David Markowitz, Timothy Maloof and David Martinielli. Special guest artist visiting from Tunisia, Jamel Eddine Boukraa.

"A Grand Souk Festival" will feature activities for adults and children on Sunday, May 19th at El Rancho Cordillera del Norte in Northridge from 11:30 am until 5:00 pm. This open air bazaar of arts and culture is a culminating celebration of the Big Read Program through the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. This Valley celebration is sponsored by The Museum of the San Fernando Valley, a participant in this year's Big Read Program, along with the Levantine Cultural Center.

Levantine presents the Abbas Premjee Project, a concert of progressive Pakistani jazz in conjunction with the Inside/Outside Gallery exhibition "The Art of Music" by Adnan Hussain. The exhibition of 19 paintings is inspired by travels through Central and South Asia, featuring watercolor, gouache and ink pieces of music from Kyrgyzstan, Uyghurs from China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Enjoy art and live performance in a unique atmosphere.

Freedom Theatre West, the Middle Eastern theatre company, presents Cynthia Sophiea's one-woman show, Everyone Has Tears (running time 70 minutes, no intermission) for two nights only at the Imagined Life Theater, March 29 and 30, 2013, at 8 pm. With a long career spanning the Broadway stage as well as screen and television, Cynthia Sophiea shines in this very personal performance, fresh from her dazzling success in a preview version in the 2013 Los Angeles Women's Theater Festival. Accompanied by Arabic music, this piece tells the story of a woman—American, Lebanese, Palestinian—afraid to be Arab in America. But she is silent no more, claiming her own voice and giving voice to others rarely heard.. Seating is limited, tickets are $30 for Preferred Seating, $20 General Admission, and there a limited number of member/student priced seats at just $15. Hurry, these shows will sell out quickly. Call 323.413.2001 to reserve by phone, or click above to reserve online.

ON the 10th anniversary of the death of International Solidarity Movement peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an IDF bulldozer while attempting to defend a Palestinian home in Gaza, host Khadija Anderson and the Levantaine Cultural Center invite you to share in an evening of poetry and music on behalf of Palestine. Los Angeles poets Arminé Iknadossian, Arash Saedinia and Khadija Anderson will read from their own work, and from Palestinian poets at home and in the diaspora. Ambient Oud artist Dann Torres performs on oud and guitars. A short film will screen. Café-bar open. Work of poets to include Taha Muhammad Ali, Laila 'Allush, Donia El-Amal Ismail, Siham Da'oud, Mahmoud Darwish, Najwan Darwish, Nathalie Handal, Annemarie Jacir. Fady Joudah, Samih al-Qasim, Islam Samhan, Mai Sayigh, Naomi Shihab Nye, Fadwa Tuqan, Ghassan Zaqtan. This literary event is one in a series celebrating literacy and the Middle East under the aegis of the NEA's Big Read program, supported locally by the Los Angeles Dept. of Cultural Affairs. 

Rock, metal, heavy metal, hip hop, jazz and blues are all-American music originals, but they are genres that are constantly being challenged and reinvented by swingers in the Middle East—by singer-songwriters and musicians who are both natively Middle Eastern but strongly western in their tastes and travels. Turkey spans the European and Asian continents and is a bridge culture between east and west. Kutsal is an Istanbul, Turkey born-and-educated rocker with four recordings to her credit, and Band Twenty7 is a top indie band; both Kutsal and Twenty7 rock the house singing in both English and Turkish. This is one in a new series, "The Middle East Rocks," and is a collaboration between the Levantine Cultural Center and The Mint—LevantineMint. Tickets are $12 or $15 at the door, available now online.

On Saturday, February 2, the Levantine Cultural Center's Inside/Outside Gallery is pleased to offer an Artist's Reception for Adnan Hussain's one-person show, "The Art of Music," with deejayed music featuring Kyrgyzstan and the Uyghurs of China. There is no cover and the event is free to the public. Inspired by travels through Central and South Asia, "The Art of Music" features watercolor, gouache and ink pieces of music from Kyrgyzstan, Uyghurs from China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. Enjoy art, live performances, screenings and connect to cultures across language and borders through the beauty of music. There will be additional evenings of live music on Feb. 8 (Uzbekistan and Mongolia) and Feb. 22 (Pakistan).