The Arabesque Music Ensemble (formerly theChicago Classical Oriental Ensemble) consists of professional musicians from several countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa who perform classical music from the Arabic traditions. Eastern instruments such as ‘ud, qanun, buzuq, nay, and riqq are complemented by Western orchestral instruments (violin, viola, cello, and flute). Members of the AME are also accomplished arrangers, composers, conductors, and educators, serving as faculty for the annual Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music.
The AME presented its debut performance in 2003 at the Oriental Institute in Chicago and has since conducted three nationwide tours. The full 20-member ensemble performed with the Anda-El East West Orchestra during a nationwide tour showcasing Andalusian music in 2004. The AME's 2005 tour highlighted contemporary compositions by Middle Eastern composers and included the entire 20-member orchestra with guest artists Yair Dalal and Naser Musa. The Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh CD release tour in 2006 featured the five-member takht version of the AME along with guest vocalists Youssef Kassab and Albert Agha.
Venues hosting the AME have included: Oriental Institute, Chicago; Chicago Cultural Center; Milwaukee Arab World Fest; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; United Nations and Symphony Space, New York; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Harvard University, Boston; Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.; Skirball Cultural Center, Eretz-Siamak Cultural Center and La Mirada Theatre, Los Angeles; Town Hall, Seattle; and the Place des Arts, Montreal. A webcast of the February 2006 Kennedy Center performance may be viewed at: www.kennedy-center.org.
The Arabic Music Ensemble represents a unique experience of classical Oriental music in the United States. In 2005, the ensemble was added to the prestigious Artstour roster of the Illinois Arts Council. The AME has enjoyed critical acclaim from the American press; the Washington Post cited the blending of the vocalists’ “amazingly smooth sound with the ensemble’s precise rhythms and perfect intonation.” The Los Angeles Times wrote of the AME's “rich textures and roving counter-melodies” and “considerable musical versatility, alternating lush ensemble playing with bursts of individual improvisation.” From the Harvard Crimson: “All of the musicians delivered virtuosic performances. The vocal performances were outstanding.” The Chicago Reader noted, “This group brings a historical authenticity to the material and plays it with crackling precision”; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised the AME's “polished performance.”
The Arabic Music Ensemble founded by Hicham Chami, a Moroccan-born qanun performer based in Chicago. Voted “Chicago’s Best Instrumentalist” in 2002 by Chicago Magazine, Chami is also the founder of Xauen Music and the Arabesque Foundation for Arab Culture, organizations dedicated to preserving the heritage of classical Arabic, Turkish, and Armenian music. An educator as well as a musician, Chami conducts workshops and classes for children and adults in a variety of settings. “Arabesque,” an educational program introducing Chicago Public School students to Arab culture and music, is presented through Urban Gateways. Chami is the founder and director of the Annual Heartland Seminar on Arabic Music in Wisconsin, the first event of its kind in the Midwest. He has served as host of “Arabesque On Air,” a weekly radio show broadcast from the University of Chicago campus, highlighting classical Oriental music; he is editor of “Tarab: The Arabic and Eastern Music Newsletter.”
