To inquire about getting events listed, email the Calendar Editor. [Send all photos as small jpegs or gifs.] To learn about previous events, scroll to bottom of the page. All programs free unless otherwise noted.


Aug 4 (Thurs), 7:30 pm—DJ Cheb i Sabbah Live at the Japanese American National Museum

Spinning ragas and electronica with equal grace, Algerian-born dj Cheb i Sabbah is a pilgrim of the spirit, creating peaceful meditations that give new meaning to "trance music." His latest project, La Kahena, took him back to the Maghreb where he drank from an endless well of gorgeous melodies and rolling drumbeats. For this concert, Chebiji will be joined by some of LA's finest Maghrebi musicians and dancers.

This series is presented in association with the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy and is sponsored, in part, by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

In the Japanese American National Museum plaza at 1st and Central Streets, downtown Los Angeles.

Aug 13 (Sat), 8 pm—"Tree of Life" CD Release Concert with the Yuval Ron Ensemble Featuring Najwa Gibran at the Bahai Center


The Yuval Ron Ensemble features vocalist Najwa Gibran plus guest dancers:
Tamra-henna, Ani Aghajanyan and Melanie Kareem's WE ARE BALADI Dance Theater.

The ensemble's performers include Najwa Gibran (vocals), Maya Haddi(vocals), Najwa Gibran, Yeghish Manukyan (duduk, shvi flute, clarinet, zurna), Virginie Alumyan (kanun),
Jamie Papish (percussion), David Martinelli (percussion), Carolyne Aycaguer-Ron (harmonium, keyboard), Yuval Ron (oud, saz, musical director).

Najwa Gibran is considered one of the finest Arabic female singers living today in the west. She is an expert of the Arabic traditional vocal technique called Mawal (an improvisational passage) and an expert of Lebanese and Bedouin folk songs. She grew up in Haifa to a musical family of Christian Arab heritage. She began her musical training with her father Marun in Middle Eastern vocal techniques and Maqamatt (traditional Middle Eastern musical scales system) and studied piano at the Haifa conservatory. Since the age of 13, Najwa has sung professionally in various Arabic community events. After immigrating to Canada she continued her studies at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto where she studied voice. She is the lead vocalist with Canada's Arabesque Dance Company and The Yuval Ron Ensemble in Los Angeles. She has been featured on Arabesque Dance Companys "Oyoun" CD, Boomtang "Wet" and on The Yuval Ron Ensemble CD "Under The Olive Tree," as well as on the soundtrack for the film "Helen of Troy." Najwa has participated in numerous music festivals such as "A Concert for the Peace, Health, and Prosperity" (New York City), "Festival Of lights" (Toronto), "Holiday Of Holidays" (Israel), "Bridging the Silence" (Toronto), and the "Microfest" (Los Angeles) and several concerts for promoting peace in the Middle East.

Yuval Ron is an international composer and record producer. He has been actively involved in creating musical bridges between people of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths. His ensemble, The Yuval Ron Ensemble includes Arabic, Israeli and Jewish musicians as well as Christian Armenian artists who unites the sacred musical traditions of Judaism, Sufism (Islamic mystical tradition) and the Armenian Church into an unusual mystical, spiritual and inspiring musical celebration. The ensemble was featured in the World Festival of Sacred Music 2002 and performed in numerous events in the US since 2000.

Yuval has done field recordings in the Sinai desert with the Bedouins and produced the record One Truth – “a window into the divine passion and poetry of Sufism” with the Sufi master musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek. A recipient of multiple grants from National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Composers Forum and the California Council for the Humanities, Yuval has worked with the Moscow Symphony, the LAJS Symphony, and the New Hampshire Philharmonic. In 2003 he released the albums Under the Olive Tree with the Yuval Ron Ensemble featuring Najwa Gibran and the album ONE – "a desert voyage to the experience of oneness" on Magda Records featuring Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Yair Dalal, Azam Ali and Haim Louk.

Come and celebrate the release of the ensemble's new CD on Magda Records. Ticket price includes the concert plus a post reception with Middle Eastern delights. Click here to listen to musical samples (be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page when you get there!).

Location: Bahai Center, 5755 Rodeo Road, at La Cienega, Los Angeles. CA 90016. ENTER parking lot from La Cienega, just north from the Rodeo Rd/La Cienega corner, across the street from Target store. Entrance to building is NOT on Rodeo Road; enter the Center from the BACK of the building thorugh the parking lot.

Admission: $25. Purchase your tickets through Levantine Cultural Center now:

[Be sure to enter the total dollar amount of purchased tickets, not the quantity; for ex. $50 will tell us you want two tix at Will Call.]


Aug 14 (Sun), 7 pm—Reception for the "Yamou Retrospective," Exhibit of the Celebrated Paris-based Moroccan Artist Yamou

Aug 14-Sept 8, Levantine Cultural Center guest curator Vanessa Delouya curates a retrospective exhibit of the works of Moroccan contemporary artist Yamou at the Articultural Gallery, 10469 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles 90024.

From Yamou:
 
I was born in Casablanca in 1959, the fourth of five children. Artists, art collectors, paintings were not part of my milieu but I remember always wanting to portray, to draw and later to paint. I drew on the walls, on my notebooks and on large pieces of Manila paper. My first encounter with painting was in magazines and reviews. Later, I discovered the galleries of Casablanca where I got to know the Moroccan painting of the 70's. It was committed painting, very open to what was going on in the world.
           After my baccalaureate, I went to France to study…biology. I was interested in living things. But my curiosity went beyond my chosen subject. It was my first trip outside of Morocco, I was 19, I was discovering a new country, a new culture, museums…My studies in biology did not give me the keys to understand the world around me. After a year, I signed up for a degree in sociology, then a master's (DEA) with the beginning of a thesis on contemporary Moroccan art. At the same time, I continued to paint and spend time at galleries and museums. At age 27, I decided that I was a painter.
          My painting in that period was a crossroads of influences. There was Monet, de Kooning, Belkahia, Tapiès, Kacimi, Klee, Rembrandt…

More info to be posted shortly. For more about Yamou visit his site.


Aug 24 (Wed), 7:30 pm—Yasmin Levy on Sephardic Music & Culture at the Skirball

Performer Yasmin Levy gives a lecture/recital that follows the trail of the Sephardim, the descendants of Jews from the Iberian peninsula. Through love songs and tender lullabies, Levy takes the audience on a colorful journey of customs and ritual, from medieval Spain to Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. Read a preview of what Yasmin Levy will present.

$5 General. Free to Skirball Members and Students. Member reservations required: 310. 440.4692. Advance tickets: 866.468.3399 or (service charges apply) or at the Skirball Admissions Desk.


Aug 25 (Thurs), 8 pm—Yasmin Levy, in U.S. Premiere, at the Skirball

With her distinctive, deeply spiritual style of singing, Jerusalem-born Yasmin Levy brings to life the most beautiful and romantic songs of Judeo-Spanish/Ladino heritage, mixed with Andalusian flamenco. The daughter of Yitzhak Levy, a pioneer researcher of the music of Spanish Jewry and leading authority on Ladino language and culture, the young vocalist has brought her father's legacy into the twenty-first century, performing around the world to much acclaim.
 
"Yasmin Levy's specialty is Judeo-Spanish songs from 600 years ago.... What she does with them is electrifying."—Daily Telegraph

Listen to Yasmin Levy music samples.

Skirball Cultural Center Sunset Concert Series. Free. No reservations. Limited seating available on a first-come, first-served basis. Parking: $5. Carpooling encouraged! Sunset Concerts is back for its ninth season.

Aug 25 (Thurs), 8 pm—Niyaz at the Knitting Factory Hollywood, with DJ Derek Rath

Niyaz’s debut album weaves together ten beautiful, mystical Sufi poems with music accessible to a contemporary audience. With an ethereal, beguiling sound that evokes centuries of women’s voices from medieval Europe to the modern Middle East, Niyaz vocalist Azam Ali is best known as half of the best-selling duo Vas. Her vocals have been featured in several major motion pictures including The Matrix: Revolutions and on many television programs such as Alias and The Agency. Guitarist Loga Ramin Torkian, whose band Axiom of Choice has won much critical acclaim, is deeply involved with the music of his homeland, Iran. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, Loga uses the Persian classical repertoire, known as the radif, within his own compositions. The last piece of the Niyaz puzzle is two-time Grammy Award nominee Carmen Rizzo, a producer/programmer who has worked with Seal, Alanis Morisette, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Paul Oakenfold, , Jem, and Grant Lee Phillips. Mingling the textures of traditional acoustic music with new electronica, Niyaz represents a finely tuned balance that ushers in a new era of artistic possibilities for Iranian music.

In the Main room, Knitting Factory, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 90028. Tix $15. Click here to purchase.


Volunteer with Levantine Cultural Center's Programming Committee

Bring your ideas, enthusiasm and support to the Center by participating in a new Programming Committee, that will cooperate with our Board of Directors in creating new arts programs in the weeks and months ahead. Visit our volunteer opportunities page. To get on the reservation list for the next meeting, email us now!


Board of Directors Seeks Community Leaders

Levantine Center's Board of Directors is continually in formation, and welcomes inquiries—we are actively searching for more people with our passion and conviction! The board consists of diverse members of the community who are of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean heritage or who have a strong professional or artistic interest in furthering our mission. As directors, board members represent the organization officially, are responsible for its financial health, and make the priority strategic decisions, with counsel from Advisory Board members where possible. Board members work with activists heading specific committes, including the Film/Video, Literary, Education Performing Arts and Membership Committees.

Our Advisory Board is also in formation. Advisory board members are known professionally in their own communities and offer valuable counsel and services to the organization; they are eligible to attend the organization's annual retreat and receive other benefits.

Please contact us at 310.559.5544.

Submit your calendar listings to our calendar editor now.


To subscribe to our listserve and receive our special updates (which include free ticket giveaways, articles and more), either visit our Sign-up page or send a message to: levantinecenter@levantinecenter.org and include Subscribe Me in the subject box. Be sure to give us your first and last name and how you heard about us!

To join/support Levantine Cultural Center, simply go to our membership page and fill in the blanks, use your credit card, or print and mail in your check for $120 annual membership dues (that's just $10 per month! and you'll receive many discounts and a pair of free tickets to an upcoming event, a minimum $40 value) to: Levantine Center, 8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N. 789, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

LEVANTINE CULTURAL CENTER
Cultures of the Middle East & Mediterranean
8424A Santa Monica Blvd., N.789, West Hollywood CA 90069
310.559.5544, info@levantinecenter.org

Levantine Center advocates for, educates about, and in general promotes and supports Middle Eastern and Mediterranean contemporary arts and traditional cultures. We present or cosponsor programs of music, literature, art, film/video, publications, new media and more, often from educational and historical perspectives. While acknowledging the value of entertainment, we emphasize scholarship and substance. We are strongly multidisciplinary and non-sectarian, do not embrace any political or religious doctrine, and are committed to the principle of cross-cultural cooperation. We support the strengthening of ties between all cultural, ethnic and religious communities of the Middle East/West Asia/Levant, as well as between all peoples of Middle Eastern descent in diaspora.

 
See what Levantine Center has been up to and take note of other recent cultural events.

Back to Top