São Paulo – To celebrate the World Refugee Day, the Villa-Lobos Park Library will hold a concert of the ethnic and eastern group Yaqin Ensemble, featuring Palestinian musician Yousef Saif (pictured). The event occurs on June 20 at 2 pm (Corpus Christ holiday), and is organized by the Creative Displacement project, which promotes refugee inclusion through the creative economy in São Paulo.
“Our intention is to emphasize the richness migration creates in the area of creative economy, as a result of the intercultural interactions,” said Creative Displacement creator and manager Maria Nilda Santos.
Yaqin Ensemble’s sound may be compared to the Arab ornament arabesque, since it crosses several musical forms and traditions, with a repertoire ranging from Baroque and Middle Eastern music to popular Brazilian music. The group was created by researcher and multi-instrumentalist Mario Aphonso III, who launched two important Eastern music albums.
Mixing instruments from the Middle East such as “oud”, “bouzouki”, “nay”, “riq”, “goblet drum” and “frame drums”, Yaqin Ensemble presents compositions and arrangements using expressions from the East, such as “maqams” e “iqqat” (Eastern modes and rhythms) together with the essence of Western and Brazilian rhythms.
For the performance, the group will consist of Mario Aphonso III (Ney, Nay, Kaval), Ian Nain (Oud, Cura, Saz), Francisco Lobo (Derbak, Riqq, frame drums), Yousef Saif (Bouzouki, Baglama), and Bruna Milani (dancer).
Youssef Saif is a composer and multi-instrumentalist musician. He started his musical career when he was six playing bouzouki, a traditional instrument from Iraq of the lute family. Yousef graduated in music in Jordan and has worked with several Palestinian bands. Living in Brazil for over a year, he plays with Orquestra Mundana Refugi, Diversite, Yaqin Emsemble, and others.
For more information, visit the Facebook event page.
Quick Facts
Yaqin Ensemble concert
June 20
Thursday, 2 pm
1:30 in length
Biblioteca Parque Villa-Lobos
Av. Queiroz Filho, 1205
Alto de Pinheiros, São Paulo
Free admission
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
