Portland, Maine - Next Thursday, June 28, One Longfellow Square, 181 State Street in Portland, will present Pakistani folk musician Arieb Azhar and his quartet as part of an international cultural diplomacy project sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State and the New England Foundation for the Arts. The performance is at 7:30. Tickets are $17 in advance and at the door. The concert is open to all ages.
Arieb Azhar incorporates traditional instruments, the melodicism and influence of Sufi poetry, and a contemporary spin to create music that is mesmerizing and spiritually uplifting. He draws on his childhood in Pakistan as well as a period spent living with the gypsies of Croatia in his youth.
Arieb and his group arrived in the US on Tuesday, June 20 - it is their first time in the United States. The group played to a 1,000-seat packed house at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to kick off their 9-stop tour of both cities and small towns. The band consists of Arieb Azhar (vocals, guitar), Kahif Ali (tabla), Muhammad Akmal Qadri (flute), and Seeshan Mansoor (guitar).
The group will be spending two nights in Portland hosted by the Board of Directors at One Longfellow Square. While here, they will treat the group to a Maine dinner on Peaks Island, a visit to Maine violinmaker Jon Cooper of Acoustic Artisans in Portland, a tour of the greater Portland area, and an opportunity to meet with Portland arts and cultural leaders.
For further information, contact Ceci Gilson, One Longfellow Square Publicist, ceci@onelongfellowsquare.com
For more information on the Center Stage program, go to www.nefa.org/grants_services/center_stage.
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