An Evening of Middle Eastern Classical Music
Join the Center for World Music for a delightful evening of Middle Eastern classical music with violinist and singer Luay Yousif, drummer Omar Alchi, and guitarist Jack Tamas. Luay will present traditional songs and instrumentals of the Middle East as well as his own original compositions. A sought-after singer throughout North America, he sings in Aramaic (the language of Jesus) in the Chaldean (Christian) tradition of Iraq.
About Luay Yousif
Luay Yousif was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1979. As a student at the Institute for Artistic Studies, he studied violin and earned a Diploma of Art with honors. He also studied music at the College of Performing Arts, until he left Iraq in 2004.
Yousif was a member of the famed Iraqi Symphony Orchestra for four years, during which he studied violin with Professor Fouad Ritha AlSadan. In 2003 the orchestra traveled to Washington D.C. where he performed with the world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Yousif was a member of the Iraqi Choral Choir of the Iraqi Ministry of Education and also a member of the Association of Iraqi Artists.
Yousif arrived in the United States in 2007, residing in San Diego where he serves as Director of Music for St. Peter’s Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Rancho San Diego. In addition to performing at music festivals and other events, he is a composer and an arranger of Chaldean rhythms, lyrics, and traditional songs. He has recorded four vocal albums.
Luay Yousif has played violin with the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra, the City Ballet Orchestra, the Dana Point Symphony, and the Pacific Lyric Opera. In 2014 he was a featured artist for the “Your Song, Your Story” San Diego Symphony concerts where he performed one of his own composition alongside the symphony.
About Omar Alchi
Omar Alchi was born in Iraq in 1995. He started playing drums at the young age of three. With the help of his family, he developed his talents over the years to master Middle Eastern hand drums such as the tabla, riq, and tar along with many others. He and his family fled to Syria in 2006. There he mastered Maksoum, Katakoufti and other classical rhythms as well as more about Syrian and Lebanese music. In 2010 he moved to the United States where he was influenced by different musical genres—styles that motivated him to learn to play on a drum set.
Today Alchi lives in San Diego where he is the lead percussionist for St. Peter’s Chaldean Catholic Cathedral Choir. He also performs at different events across the country. He is currently studying Computer Information Technology at Point Loma Nazarene University and is a student of music theory under the tutelage of Luay Yousif.
Luay Yousif and Omar Alchi will be accompanied by Jack Tamas on guitar.
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