Nawa in Bethlehem

On 25th January, the ESNCM’s Tchaikovsky Music School hosted a concert by the Nawa ensemble with their program “Habayeb” (“Dear ones”), at the theatre of the President Putin Organization in Bethlehem. This comes as part of the conservatory’s continuing cooperation with other musical and cultural organizations in Palestine.  Nawa - The Palestinian Institute for Cultural Development - established its ensemble in 2010, with the aim of reviving the collective Palestinian artistic memory. Particularly it shines a light on the importance of Palestine and its cities and musicians to the Arab musical golden age in the 50 years preceding the Nakba of 1948. The audience was treated to a program including vocal and instrumental music by four preeminent Palestinian musicians of the era: Rawhi Khammash, Mohammad Ghazi, Abdel Karim Qazmouz and Riyad al-Bandak. Nawa’s lineup includes ten instrumental musicians playing oud, buzuq, nai, strings and percussion, and an 8-member choir.