Our University Musical Society Digital Residency continues with a behind-the-scenes Open Rehearsal this September!
We’ll be piping composer Tarek Yamani in from Berlin to take you inside this stylistically captivating, Afro-Tarab work – his first-ever string quartet and a co-commission between UMS and Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation.
Be a fly on the wall as we fine-tune this rhythmically ebullient and harmonically adventurous music in which you’ll experience the magnetism of microtonal scales and the spirited hocketing (alternating notes between multiple voices) of four voices.
This isn’t some sanded-down-for-prime-time stream. You are going to see us in true rehearsal mode, assembling not only the mechanics but the spirit of the music with Tarek providing real-time feedback. If you enjoy new play workshops or being invited into the kitchen at your favorite restaurant, this is for you.
All you need to do is RSVP on the form below!
ABOUT TAREK YAMANI
Born and raised in Beirut, Tarek is a Lebanese-American award winning composer and a jazz pianist who taught himself jazz the age of 19.
Since the release of his debut "Ashur" in 2012, Tarek has been reinventing classical Arabic music within the framework of Black American Music in a genre often dubbed "Afro-Tarab" and most evident in his second album "Lisan Al Tarab: Jazz Conceptions in Classical Arabic".
Following the commission by the Abu Dhabi Festival, Tarek went on to research and write new music based on the largely unexplored rhythms of the Arabian Peninsula. The new work entitled "Peninsular" was released to critical acclaim and described as "a world-jazz heard nowhere else" (TSF Jazz), "luminous music anchored in jazz harmony and Arab traditions" (Télérama), “striking, rather atypical, rich, varied… to urgently insert into your playlists” (Jazz Magazine) and "the most beautiful surprise of the beginning of this year" (Jazz News).
Winner of the prestigious "Thelonious Monk Int'l Jazz Composers Competition" for his composition "Sama'i Yamani", Tarek has been part of three all-star global concerts of the International Jazz Day and shared the stage with luminaries such as Wayne Shorter, Richard Bona, Zakir Hussein, Esperanza Spalding, Antonio Sanchez, Brian Blade and Vinnie Coliauta.
He performed around the world in venues such as the Smithsonian Institute (Washington, DC), Barcelona Cathedral at La Merce (Spain), David Rubenstein Atrium (Lincoln Center, NY), Boulez Saal (Berlin), Dizzy's Cub Coca Cola (Jazz at Lincoln Center), MuCEM museum (FR), the United Nations Assembly Hall (NY), Gran Teatro de la Habana (Cuba), Melbourne Arts Center, New York University (Abu Dhabi Festival), the Blue Whale (Los Angeles), the Detroit Institute of Arts, New Morning (Paris), Aaron Davis Hall (NY), and King’s Place (UK) to name a few.
Since moving to NYC in 2011, Tarek has played as a leader or sideman in New York's most renowned jazz clubs such as the Lenox Lounge, Iridium, Smoke, Smalls, Cornelia Street Cafe, Bill’s Place, The Stone, Le Poisson Rouge, Shapeshifter Lab, Nublu & 55 Bar.
In April 2013, he founded, organized & produced a cutting-edge performance called “Beirut Speaks Jazz” which aims to promote jazz in Lebanon by igniting adventurous collaborations between artists from the worlds of rock, pop, tarab, rap and blues over the foundations of jazz. So far the event has been a great success gathering 36 musicians on one stage and in different combinations.
Tarek has been recently commissioned by UMS (Ann Arbor) to write a new piece for the genre-bending Spektral Quartet to be premiered in the fall of 2021 part of the UMS Digital Artist Residency.
Tarek is the recipient of many grants such as the Baryshnikov Arts Center artist-in-residence, the Abu Dhabi Festival Commission, the Thelonious Monk Jazz Composers Competition, the Givanas Foundation grant, the Huygens scholarship, the Andrea Elkenbracht award, the Cultural Resource grant (Al Mawred), the Prins Bernhard Culture fund, the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency (did not attend), the New Dutch composition contest, and the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC).
As a film composer, Tarek has scored numerous short films such as "I SAY DUST", a film by Darine Hotait which screened in 70+ festivals around the world and was shown on BBC, Sundance TV and AMC Network, and the most recent "LIKE SALT".
As an author, he has written and self-published two books about rhythm: "Duple vs Triple: A Melodic Approach to Mastering Polyrhythms in Jazz and other Groove-Based Music in 56 Steps" and "The Percussion Ensemble of the Arabian Peninsula".
Tarek holds a BS in Computer Science from the American University of Beirut and a BA in Jazz Piano from the Prins Claus Conservatory of Groningen.
Spektral Quartet’s programming is supported by our members, our donors, and by the following foundations and organizations:
