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Ahlem was born in Tunis, Tunisia and began singing at age 13. She studied at the music conservatory of Tunis and then went on to perform at local parties and weddings, at national and international f... more
Singer, percussionist (dumbek and frame drum) and oud player, Alrodini was born in Bakat Al Hoddeidah on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Learning music informally from the time he was a small boy, Alrodin... more
Alsarah is a singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist. Born in Sudan, she called many places home around the world before settling in Brooklyn, NY. She began studying music at the age of 12, and jo... more
One of few in the world who is an expert in the Iraqi maqam, ElSaffar, trumpeter, composer, singer, and santoor player, is garnering an international reputation for his work, both in the traditional I... more
Touma grew up singing traditional Lebanese songs at parties, festivals and with his school choir in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. As a teenager, Touma enrolled in Tripoli’s music conservator... more
Check out the upcoming Cultural Walking Tours in May Check out the Maqam Events Archive Learn about Maqam Artists Learn about Brooklyn's Arab Music and Culture ... more
Eddie Soubhi Ibn Farjallah Kochakhi was born and raised in Brooklyn, in a Syrian Catholic family on Atlantic Avenue. His sister brought him his first dumbek from Aleppo when he was ten. He came to be... more
El Mostafa comes from the Atlantic port city of El Jadida, Morocco. He bought his first instrument, a Moroccan wooden flute called gasbah, as a boy. He was drawn to its sad, yet sweet sound quality, a... more
Brooklyn-based Palestinian vocalist Fahim Dandan grew up with exposure to the folk music traditions of Haifa and nearby villages. Dandan’s mother was respected for her musical ability and noted for h... more
Gaida Hinnawi is a vocalist and composer working at the intersection of the New York Arab and improvised music scenes. Her compositions draw on classical Arabic song, Syrian folk traditions, and impro... more
From Casablanca, Morocco, Bohsina bought his first keyboard at age 12, and – as he recounts – it grew with him. Today he is one of NYC vocalists’ most requested and respected keyboardists. By 16, Bo... more
Johnny Farraj has studied riq (Egyptian tambourine) and frame drum with Karim Nagi and Fairuz's percussionist Michel Merhej, both featured in Brooklyn Maqam. He also studied oud with Simon Shaheen and... more
Malika Zarra was born in Morocco and raised in France, where she studied clarinet and voice. In 2004 she moved to New York City to develop her rich and eclectic style, drawing on gospel, funk and Sub... more
Raised near Haifa, Najeeb Shaheen was trained on the oud by his father, the late Hikmat Shaheen. As a child, he and his brother Simon Shaheen were deeply influenced by the weekly regional broadcasts ... more
The Lebanese-American tenor Naji Youssef was born in the El-Shouf region of Lebanon and immigrated in 1988 to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where he is cantor for the Catholic Melkite Church of the Virgin Mary... more
Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, Beyruti has been singing and acting since the age of 12, when she began performing at local haflat (parties) and restaurants. Since immigrating to the U.S. in 1996, Beyruti h... more
El Tunsi was born in Tunis, where he began taking music and oud lessons at age 14 at the Salah El Mahdi Musical Club. El Mahdi, a legendary Tunisian music composer, recognized El Tunsi's talent and en... more
Tabari is a Palestinian vocalist who comes from a family of musicians and singers. He began to learn and play keyboard at age 11 and by age 14 was performing at weddings and parties with many famous s... more
Samuel Thomas, performer and ethnomusicologist, holds two Bachelor of Music degrees from Berklee College of Music in Jazz Composition and Performance, a Masters of Music from CUNY-Brooklyn College, an... more
Shoshana “Sham’eh” Tubi, a long-time Brooklyn resident, was born in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen. At a young age she learned the wedding songs and dances of the Jewish women of Sana’a, in which she ev... more
