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World Music Festival: Chicago

Presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs in association with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

Chicago showcases the best of international music at the 11th Annual World Music Festival: Chicago 2009. The multi-venue, one-week festival, which attracts an average of 45,000 visitors each year, showcases both traditional and contemporary music from diverse cultures across the world. The 2009 festival line-up features more than 60 events at 20+ venues. Many events are family friendly. Events include live radio broadcasts and a mix of free and ticketed concerts presented in museums, parks, cultural centers, plazas, theaters, music stores, clubs and other venues throughout Chicago.

Tickets $15

FREE

Drummer Kubar Suchar and Trumpeter Artur Majewski, formerly of the band Robotobibok, perform a new work that combines their expert instrumentation with synthesized electronica.

For a complete lineup of concerts and events: World Music Festival: Chicago

Orchestra of Tetouan

Photo: Sarah Skinner

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

  • Orchestra of Tetouan

Direct from Morocco, the seven-member Orchestra of Tetouan brings the enrapturing music they've performed across the world to the MCA for this year's World Music Festival. The Orchestra of Tetouan draws its sound from a musical tradition that originated more than one thousand years ago in Andalusia, Spain. Uprooted to North Africa when the Christian reconquista forcibly exiled Jews and Muslims from Europe, Andalusian music evolved for centuries in its Moroccan home. Now, the Orchestra melds traditional Andalusian tunes and instruments— from the rbab to the 'ud—with more recognizable styles from contemporary Western Europe, forging an utterly compelling sound from ancient rhythms.

  • Naief Rafeh

The Syrian-born Chicago artist Naief Rafeh will open for the Orchestra. Considered a burgeoning star in his native Middle East, Rafeh now performs mostly in Chicago. Here, he captivates local audiences with traditional Arab tunes performed on the nay, an ancient Egyptian flute.