Digital Residency: Tarek Yamani & Spektral Quartet
Lebanese composer and pianist Tarek Yamani and the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet will join forces to explore the junctures between Western Classical, jazz, and traditional Arab music, resulting in a new, evening-length commission.
The residency brings these innovative artists together for the first time, allowing audiences to join on a journey of discovery, improvisation, and collaboration encompassing both traditional and contemporary performing arts from both Western traditions and the Arab diaspora.
Residency Support
Supporting Sponsors
Julia Darlow and John O’Meara
Anne and Paul Glendon
Norman and Debbie Herbert
Patron Sponsors
Stephen and Rosamund Forrest
Beverley and Gerson Geltner
Susan and Richard Gutow
James and Nancy Stanley
Funded in part by
UMS Sustaining Directors
Blogs
STORY
Bridging Musical Languages with Tarek Yamani & Spektral Quartet
Sammy Sussman interviews Tarek Yamani and members of the Spektral Quartet in advance of their digital world premiere collaboration.
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VIDEO
Listening Parties with Spektral Quartet & Tarek Yamani
The Spektral Quartet and Tarek Yamani shared music with each other — and our audiences — that has shaped their artistic backgrounds and formed their artistic identities.
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Upcoming Events
Events coming soon.
About the Artists
Lebanese pianist and composer Tarek Yamani was scheduled to make his UMS debut in March 2020, just two days after the University of Michigan canceled all performances and gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yamani teams up with the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet, a string quartet that actively looks for connections between traditional repertoire and contemporary works. Since its inception in 2010, the Grammy-nominated Spektral is known for creating seamless connections across the centuries. UMS was pleased to bring these two curious artists together to explore collaboration across disciplines, with a particular focus on Arab instrumental and vocal music and improvisation, as well as mentorship and apprenticeship in the performing arts.
“Music is to its culture what timbre is to its instrument. What makes each timbre so unique is the particular amplitude of each of the infinite overtones making up the same harmonic series which all instruments share. Music is not a universal language, it is a universe of subtle interconnectedness.”
— Tarek Yamani
Visit Tarek’s website and follow him on:
Listen to Tarek’s recordings on:
Visit the Spektral Quartet’s website and follow the quartet on:
Listen to the Spektral Quartet’s recordings on:
Explore More
Meet the full Digital Artist Residency cohort:
Wendell Pierce | Tarek Yamani & Spektral Quartet | Tunde Olaniran | Cleo Parker Robinson | Brian Lobel & Friends | Joyce DiDonato