Event

Desert Roots: Music and stories from the Middle Eastern & North African deserts

Arena Theater presents Desert Roots, an extraordinary performance by three, award-winning musical artists who perform both sacred and folk music of the Middle East: Yuval Ron, Dror Sinai, and Eliyahu Sills. Experience a spirited concert of Hebrew and Arabic songs from Israel, Yemen, Iraq, Bukhara, Morocco, Tunisia, Andalusia. Woven in between the songs are travel stories, kabalistic interpretations, Sufi poetry and personal anecdotes of the life and culture, out of which grow the fruit of Middle Eastern music. The ensemble is dedicated to fostering an understanding of the Middle Eastern cultures through music and creating musical bridges between people of different faiths.

Yuval Ron is a world-music artist, composer, producer, educator and peace activist, who works internationally in film, television, dance and theater. His ensemble includes Arabic, Jewish, and Christian artists who have been actively involved in creating bridges among people of Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths. For more information and to listen to samples of his music, please visit www.yuvalronmusic.com.

Dror Sinai is an international performer, educator, and guest artist, as well as the Founder of Rhythm Fusion, Inc. in Santa Cruz, CA. In 2002, he received the Gail Rich award for supporting the arts, and is a founding member of the World Music Committee for the Percussive Arts Society. Dror has performed as a solo artist and has appeared in ensembles of many different musical styles, with other talented artists, including Yair Dalal, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Alessandra Belloni, and Yuval Ron.

Eliyahu Sills has been studying and performing music for over 20 years on many instruments, including upright bass, bansuri, the bamboo flute of India, and the ney, the reed flute of the middle east. For more about Eliyahu, see his website at www.eliyahusills.com