CONCERT

Wednesday
October 17, 2018
7:30 p.m.

Farinon College Center
Marlo Room
College Hill, Easton, PA

FREE

Few of the world’s traditional musics are as captivating as the 700-year-old form of qawwali. With lively rhythmic cycles, gripping melodies, and inspirational poetry, Riyaaz Qawwali weaves new song and texts from Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, and other religions into the fabric of this venerable devotional music. The musicians, who come from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, embrace their diverse linguistic and religious backgrounds to extend qawwali to new, enthusiastic audiences. Returning to the roots of this ecstatic, mystical mysic, Riyaaz Qawwali conveys a universal message of oneness and joy that transcends religous and political boundaries.

The South Asian Students Association wants to exhibit the true atmosphere of a Mehfil-e-Sama (session of Qawwali) by having the audience seated on a carpeted floor and the performers on a raised platform. Bring your own blanket or cushion!

Brown Bag Lecture

Wednesday
October 17, 2018
Noon

Skillman Library, Gendebien Room

“Poetry and Philosophy of Qawwali and Sufi Music”
Featuring guest speaker Sonny Mehta, Artistic Director of Riyaaz Qawwali

Brown bag lunch will be provided while supplies last.
Admission is free.

The Fourth Light Project

Concert

Wednesday
April 11, 2018
8 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

A heady blend of acoustic and electronic, East and West, poetry and politics, Niyaz’s richly textured arrangements, sweeping choruses, and velvety vocals—courtesy of front woman Azam Ali—take inspiration from Sufi poetry, Middle Eastern folk music, and the musicians’ experiences as 21st-century global citizens. It’s “Los Angeles meets New Delhi meets Tehran,” notes NPR, yet The Fourth Light Project is a world unto itself—a modern-day global trance experience, featuring one of the first female whirling dervishes and hypnotic body-mapping projections that respond to sound and movement in real time.

Tickets available at the Williams Center for the Arts.

Residency Activities

Tuesday
April 10, 2018
Noon

Skillman Library, Gendebien Room

“Feminism in the East”
Featuring guest speakers
Azam Ali and Loga Torkian of Niyaz

Moderated by Professor Tara Gilligan (Women’s and Gender Studies, Lafayette College)

A discussion of gender inequality and the growing feminist movement in the East, exploring the gulf between the Western and Eastern definitions of female liberation when examined within the context of history, geography, and cultural traditions; and illuminating the contributions of women who have helped reshape their roles in a modern Eastern society.

Lunch will be provided while supplies last.
Admission is free.

Tuesday
April 10, 2018
3 p.m.

Williams Center Gallery
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

Facebook Live Interview
With Azam Ali and Loga Torkian of Niyaz

Kamini Masood ’19 poses your questions to the musicians. Watch on the Lafayette College Facebook page or join us in person in the art gallery. Admission is free.

Tuesday
April 10, 2018
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Studio Theater
248 North 3rd Street
Downtown Williams Arts Campus, Easton, PA

Sufi Whirling Meditation Workshop

Sufi whirling meditation or sema is a fusion of mystic audition, sacred music, poetry, and movement. It is a powerful, challenging, and ecstatic meditation based on the practices of Rumi, the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes, and beyond. The future is ancient. Rememberance is a practice. Come with passion, patience, loose clothing, good socks, and a bottle of water. Eat lightly beforehand.

Tawhida Tanya Evanson has over 15 years of study under Turkish Rifa’i Marufi Sheikh Sherif Baba Çatalkaya and Canadian whirling teacher/semazenbashi Raqib Brian Burke. She has performed and taught across Europe, Turkey, Japan, Canada and the U.S. as part of the Vancouver Rumi Society, Rumi Canada and music groups Mercan Dede (Turkey) and Niyaz (Iran-US). She is also a poet and producer.

Space is limited. The event is free, but participants must sign up with Joyce Wallace at the Williams Center for the Arts, at wallacej@lafayette.edu or 610-330-5010.

Wednesday
April 11, 2018
7 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts, Room 108
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

Pre-concert Talk
With Loga Torkian of Niyaz

Loga Torkian reveals Niyaz’s influences and inspiration. Join us before the concert begins at 8 p.m. for an enhanced view of the performance.

Admission is free.

CONCERT

Thursday
November 2, 2017
8 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

In defiance of years-long Taliban influence on local culture, Pakistan’s classical masters preserved their music and improvisational techniques underground, emerging in 2011 with an ambitious recording covering Western jazz standards on traditional instruments. The Sachal Jazz Ensemble’s angle on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” went viral, earning them world-wide recognition and an invitation from Wynton Marsalis to perform at Lincoln Center. In this cross-cultural, genre-bending concert, works by Mancini, Brubeck, and Grusin converse with practices from a cradle of civilization on sitar, flute, sarangi, and tablas—truly the quintessence of “world music.”

CONCERT

Friday
October 27, 2017
7 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

Mariela Shaker is an accomplished Syrian violinist who has received worldwide recognition for her stunning performances at the Kennedy Center, United Nations, and many other venues. She was born in Aleppo, Syria, where she began playing the violin at the age of 10 in Aleppo’s Arabic Institute of Music. In 2013, she received a scholarship to attend Monmouth College in Illinois to study Music Performance. She is currently studying for her Master’s in Music Performance at DePaul University. After her performance, she will be speaking about her experiences as a Syrian refugee in the United States.

Admission is free. Donations will be accepted on behalf of local refugee resettlement agency Bethany Christian Services.

Presented by Refugee Action and co-sponsored by the Offices of Religious and Spiritual Life and Intercultural Development; the Departments of Government and Law, Music, Anthropology and Sociology, International Affairs, Women and Gender Studies, and Religious Studies; and the Lafayette Intercultural Networking Council (LINC)

CONCERT

Wednesday
September 27, 2017
8 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

“Cheikh Lô has a voice that can move from a prescient whisper to a searing gut cry… an eclectic composer and arranger who tries new ideas on every song” (NPR). Conveying a laidback funk within the rippling polyrhythms of Senegal’s signature mbalax, he cross-pollinates with Ghanaian high-life, Jamaican reggae, and Afro-Cuban beats that keep his band’s talking drums particularly chatty. With a gentle, high tremolo or sudden bass-line plunge, Cheikh Lô implores listeners to embrace peace, love, and steadfast spirituality; one needn’t be fluent in Wolof or Bambara to be carried away by his captivating voice.

Tickets available at the Williams Center for the Arts.

Residency Activities

Wednesday
September 27, 2017
Noon

Skillman Library, Gendebien Room

“The Mourides, the Baye Fall, Senegalese Culture and the Arts”
Featuring guest speakers
Dr. Ousmane Sène, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
Cheikh Lô, Senegalese musician and singer

Moderated by Professor Wendy Wilson-Fall, Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, Lafayette College

Brown bag lunch will be provided while supplies last.
Admission is free.

Wednesday
September 27, 2017
7 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts, Room 108
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

Pre-concert talk
With Dr. Ousmane Sène, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal

Admission is free.

Thursday
September 28, 2017
10 a.m. – Noon

Mosque on the Quad

Stop by the mosque and join the discussion with Cheikh Lô and members of the MSA, led by Prof. Wendy Wilson-Fall, Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, Lafayette College.

Admission is free.