An Arabic beat with a view of Lake Michigan
By Susie Kasinski Drummond

The Journal Times
Monday, March 21, 2005

RACINE – With an instrument resting on her lap and her instructor
tapping out a steady beat, Kristina Schmidt gently plucked the
qanun’s strings.

A 25-year-old graduate student from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Schmidt is one of 14 people attending the Heartland
Seminar, which continues through Wednesday at the DeKoven Center,
600 21st St.

The five-day seminar focuses on Arabic music, and it is sponsored by
Xauen Music, a Chicago-based organization dedicated to preserving
the heritage of classical Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish and Armenian
music. Organizers declared this the first event of its kind in the
Midwest.

“I want you to get the feeling of the instrument,” said Hicham Chami, a
Moroccan-born qanun performer and instructor. The qanun is a plucked
box zither that is trapezoid shaped, with one of the sides being
rectangular. It is a classical instrument of the Arab world.

Schmidt, who was playing the qanun for only the second day,
self-corrected her mistakes and made progress under Chami’s watchful
eye.

“Even if yesterday was the only day of instruction, I felt I got my
money’s worth,” she said. “This is exactly the thing I needed.

“It’s the only thing of its kind I’ve seen, so I didn’t think twice
about coming.”

Schmidt traveled two hours to attend the residential program. Other
attendees came from California, Virginia, Massachusetts, Indiana
and Minnesota.

Violinist Yaron Klein, 33, of Boston said he was enjoying his immersion
in music-making. Klein has played Arabic music for a few years, but
the undivided attention of his instructor, Hanna Khoury, helped bring
his playing to a higher level.

“The seminar is a combination of studies about music and playing
music,” he said. “This is a wonderful way to experience the two
elements.”

The instruction methods at this seminar were as diverse as
the students. Beginning and accomplished musicians of all ages
experienced one-on-one lessons, group workshops, lectures and ensemble
rehearsals. The seminar culminates with an Arabic recital at 7:30
p.m. Wednesday.

Mediums used in daily classes included qanun, ‘ud, nay/ney, violin,
riqq, hand drums, and vocals.

Lecture topics were “Arabic versus Western Music – Approaches to
Playing, Teaching and Writing”, “Changes in the Concept of Maqam over
the Last 200 Years”, and “Historical Evolution of Moroccan Andalusian
Music.” Workshops addressed Arabic music for dance and Bedouin music.

“The Arabic music is so beautiful,” said Catherine Alexander, 40. She
said that Arabic music uses blended notes to create very different
sounds and scales that evoke a spiritual feeling in the listener. She
endured a two-day train ride from California to participate in the
seminar.

“I’m so happy. I’m meeting all these people who are just as
enthusiastic about the music as I am,” she said.

Chami became a student of music at a very young age. Rather than
studying in a traditional classroom, as is common in today’s society,
he sat with his professors and played for hours.

“Nothing compares to the human touch in teaching,” Chami said. “We
would sit with our professors for hours and learn more than music;
we learned about life.”

Documenting Arabic music is important to Chami; it adopts a regional
flavor depending on where it is created and performed. Mainstream
Arabic music, as played by international superstars, is more widely
known in the Middle East. He said much of the traditional music has
been lost.

“If a professor dies, he may take away with him a repertoire that
was not put in writing,” he said.

Chami wants the music to live on, and his Arabic music seminars will
help him in his plight. He plans to return to Racine for a similar
workshop next year.

“For our first edition, we are extremely happy to have this number
of attendees. It’s beyond our wildest imagination,” he said.

In addition to Chami and Khoury, the faculty included Karim Nagi
Mohammed, a native of Egypt and a percussionist; Naser Musa,
a singer/songwriter of Palestinian descent; Kareem Roustom, a
Syrian-born composer, guitarist and oud player; and Dr. Scott Marcus,
a ethnomusicology teacher at University of California-Santa Barbara.

Cindy Infantino, seminar coordinator, said: “We believe in the music
and in keeping it alive.”

To learn more about Arabic music and training seminars, please visit
the company’s Web site at