West Asian and Middle Eastern music can be fast and furious, twisting and twirling rhythmically like a whirling dervish, or it can be gripping and even deeply passionate as it accompanies emotive folk dances or provides the musical framework that underpins the recitation of poetry.

There is not one unified “West Asian” or “Middle Eastern” music, but rather a constellation of different musics from the region that overlap in structure, tone and rhythm, from ancient Persian Sufi music and Arabic classical music, to more modern styles like the Turkish, Arab-influenced “Arabesque” and Egypt’s “generational” music, al-jeel.

In this season we sing songs from countries that stretch from Egypt in the West to easternmost Iran, from the top of Turkey to Yemen's southern tip, in the process crossing the whole of Israel/Palestine and the Levant. We dance the dabke, croon Azeri love songs and celebrate the heck out of Nowruz. 

Ready? Yallah!