Experience live authentic Arabic, Turkish, Greek and Israeli music and dance with world percussionist Joseph Tayoun and his Middle Eastern ensemble. Journey to the folkloric dance styles of the Levantine (and Lebanese weddings) with a pre-concert dabke dance workshop with Michelle (Meesha) Tayoun. You’ll have tons of fun and get a great workout too.
Philadelphia’s Mid East Ensemble
Philadelphia’s Mid East Ensemble has been performing since the early 1990’s. The origins of the band stem from the Tayoun family’s Middle East Restaurant which provided authentic music, culture and cuisine for over 40 years in Old City Philadelphia.
The group consists of the area’s top Middle Eastern musicians and dancers from the tri-state area and beyond. Instrumentation on any given occasion includes: oud, bouzouki, clarinet, nai, zourna, violin, tabla, riq, def, keyboards, bass guitar, guitar and vocalists. Dancing includes various forms of dance commonly referred to as belly dance and folk dances referred to as dabkeh.
The configuration of the Mid East Ensemble can range from a duet to an orchestra. The artists of the Mid East Ensemble are acclaimed for their original interpretations, arrangements and choreographies of centuries old musical compositions, traditional folk music and various dance traditions from the Levantine and Anatolian regions.
For our concert on July 18th the ensemble will include: William Tayoun on keyboards, Joseph Tayoun on tabla/darbouka, Andrew Geller on riq, Steve Vosbikian on clarinet, Bill Koutsouros on Oud/Bouzouki and Meesha providing the traditional dance. https://canvas.perkinsarts.org/events/99