The Arabic Music Retreat is back with an in-person Retreat this August for the first time since 2019, after three years of meeting on Zoom. We are delighted to be presenting a public concert on August 18, 2023 at 7:30 PM in Pratt Hall on the Mount Holyoke College Campus in South Hadley, MA. The concert will feature eight participant ensembles as well as a performance by the Retreat faculty. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served. Pratt Hall is located on Lower Lake Rd. near Morgan Street. Public parking is available nearby in the lot on Morgan Street. Link to a printable pdf campus map here.
Below is our press release with more details. Hope to see you there, remember seating is first-come, first-served.
South Hadley, MA – The faculty and participants of the weeklong Arabic Music Retreat will present a concert of Arabic music at Mount Holyoke College’s Pratt Music Building in South Hadley on August 18, 2023 at 7:30 pm. The concert is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served.
The concert will feature eight participant ensembles, including a choral group and a percussion ensemble. A faculty performance will cap the evening.
After three years on zoom, the Retreat is returning to Mount Holyoke for its intensive in-person week long event, marking the 27th annual retreat.
Since its first session at Mount Holyoke in 1997, the Arabic Music Retreat has brought together amateur and professional musicians, educators, composers, and scholars from around the world to explore the music of the Arab world. Led by the legendary Simon Shaheen, `ud and violin virtuoso and professor at Berklee College of Music, the faculty teaches performance on all traditional Arab instruments, as well as classes in theory, improvisation, and repertoire.
Pratt Hall is located on Lower Lake Road near Morgan Street. Parking is available on Morgan Street. For information on the location, contact Willits Hallowell Conference Center: 413-538-2217.