MENAME and Najva concert program - 2008

Program

MENAME program, I

• Bilafrah (introduction: Hijaz G). Form: "head", 2x form, "head", 1x form. Solos: 2nd form (plucked, then violin), 3rd form (violin, then org).
• Taqsim org (modulate Hijaz G to Nahawand C)

Nahawand C: (C minor)

• Dulab Nahawand C (w/ short percussion solo, Steven)
• Taqsim oud Nahawand C (Aws Alshamsan)
• Lamma Bada Yatathanna (Nahawand C): chorus. Start with 2 cycles percussion and pizzicato.
• Tonbak solo: Kioumars Poorhaydari
• Shoore Asheghaneh (Ushaq Masri on C): Elaheh solo + chorus
• Hilwa ya Baladi (Nahawand C): Samira ElAtia solo + chorus. Soloist leads, chorus responds.
• Ya Banat Iskandariyya (Nahawand C): perc (4 cycles), instruments (1 rep), Arabic, violin, Turkish, plucked, Urdu, Arabic 2x.
• al-Uzubiyya (Nahawand C): Soraya Hafez, Rana El Kadi, and Ashraf El-Assaly solo + chorus. Percussion: bamb (refrain), malfuf (verses). Form: perc (4 cycles), instr (1 rep), refrain (2x), verse, refrain, verse, refrain (2x), then accelerate (3x).

B- series:

• Taqsim saz B kurd (Vahapcan Er)
• Leylim Ley: Basak Clements and Samira ElAtia solo + chorus
• Ach'hal Ayit: Samira + Leila solo + chorus

Farahfaza - G minor:

• taqsim org or oud (Nahawand B to Hijaz Kar D to Nahawand G)
• Chang-e Rudaki (G minor): chorus
• taqsim violin (Nahawand G): Nadir Bellahmer
• Ha'agas Street 1 (G minor): Ben Ragosin solo + chorus

In F

• Ghaasadek (Mehdi and Michael)

In A

• Nassam alayna al-hawa (Kurd A): Piano intro. Rana El Kadi and Samira ElAtia solo

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Intermission

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Najva Persian Music Group program

1. Mobtala: in the mode of "Mahoor". Composer: Hasan Yousefzamani (born 1931) Poem: Baba Taher (lived in 11th century)

2. Negah-e-Ashegh: in the mode of "Esfahan" with modulation to "Shoor". Composer: Roohollah Khaleghi (1906 - 1965) Poem: Fereydoon Moshiri (1926 - 2000)

3. Gham-e-Eshgh in the mode of "Rak-e-Abdollah". Composer: Kambiz Roshanravan (born 1949) Poem: Molana Jalaleddin Rumi (1207-1273)

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MENAME program, II

Bayyati/Hijaz D series:

• Bint al-Balad. Instrumental piece. Start with percussion cycle 2x. First solo section: violin, then others; reverse on repeat. Second solo section: violins, then others (on repeat).
• Ala shawatee Dijla mur: Amal Elkhedr and Rana El Kadi, solo. Intro: instruments play refrain once, followed by refrain 2x (solo, chorus), verse, refrain, verse, refrain, verse, refrain (2x). Instrumental solos (in 3 repeats of verse section): violins, plucked, org.
• Dulab Bayyati (with taqasim: Nadir, Aws, Vahapcan, Ashraf)
• Ah ya hilu: Ashraf El-Assaly solo. Start ion with vocals (Bb), then instruments, then percussion. Refrain 2x (solo, chorus), verse, refrain, verse, refrain (2x).
• Il hilwa di. Chorus. Start with instrumental pizzicato, then straight into singing.
• Ah ya zayn. Form: perc (4 cycles), instruments (1 cycle), Arabic, violin, Turkish, plucked, Urdu, Arabic 2x.

Performers

MENAME

Directed by Michael Frishkopf TA: Karim Gillani

Ali Azad, percussion
Amal Al-Kheder, voice
Ashraf El-Assaly, oud, voice
Aws Alshamsan, oud
Basak Acan Clements, voice
Ben Ragosin, guitar, oud, voice
Dion Brocks, electric bass
Drew Price, violin
Elaheh Ahmadi, voice
Karim Gillani, voice
Kioumars Poorhaydari, percussion
Leila Laouar, voice
Leslie Precht, percussion, voice
Martha Steenstrup, percussion, voice
Michael Frishkopf, keyboards
Mohamed Salama, voice
Mohsen Nicksiar, guitar
Mona Shubeita, voice
Nadir Bellahmer, violin
Niyati Dhokai, violin
Pam Cruise, percussion, voice
Rana El Kadi, voice
Samira ElAtia, voice
Soraya Hafez, voice
Steven Byrne, percussion
Vahapcan Er, baglama

NAJVA

Sara Nobari, violin
Ali Hooshiar, voice
Hesam Mahmoudi, tar
Ali Sharifkhani, setar
Raman Yazdani, piano, arrangements

Audio requirements

MENAME

electric bass: 1 (DI)
keyboards: 1 (DI)
plucked strings: 5 (five mics)
violins: 3 (three mics)
percussion: 8 (one mic)
voice: 10 (five vocal mics, one positioned with instrumental mic for instrumentalist/singer, 2 soloist mics, 2 section mics for others)

NAJVA

violin: 1 mic
plucked strings: 2 mics
piano: 1 mic
voice: 1 mic

General principles

• melodic instrumentalists should take care: (1) to drop volume during vocal solos, and raise volume during chorus sections; (2) to drop volume during targama, and raise volume during lawazim, creating a sharp contrast; (2) to drop volume prior to solos, in order to maximize contrast; (3) develop your own tasteful lawazim and heterophonic variations
• melodic instrumentalists should vary repeats, by rising an octave if possible (violins especially)
• when one instrument has a solo, others should not drop out. For taqasim, provide a quiet drone on the tonic. For other solos, use a "targama" technique, as if accompanying the singer.
• percussionists should take care: (1) not to let volume get too high; (2) to listen to one another and to the rest of the ensemble, in order to stay in time; (3) not to accelerate or decelerate except where required; (4) provide nice balance of dum and tek, drum sound and jingle sound, within the ensemble by including a variety of percussion instruments: tabla, tonbak, riqq, tambourine, shaker, clave, etc.
• percussion should always change between chorus and verse; use quieter, less dense cycles with less jangling for verses; louder, denser, janglier for chorus. Precise specifications will vary with the piece.
• singers: (1) know who is singing solo part and who is singing chorus; (2) sing loudly!
• all: watch each other, watch me, smile and enjoy the performance! :)