Middle Eastern Music

Performance contexts include the ḥafla, which is an Arabic musical party held to celebrate a wedding, a wedding anniversary, a high school or university graduation, a baptism for Christian Arabs, or social, political, and religious events; and performances in restaurants and night clubs, where instruments are used to accompany Middle Eastern dances. The latter are often performed by non-Middle Eastern women who have developed great admiration for this art form and who are trained in many of Ontario’s...