The Retreat is presenting two public concerts this year. Both are free and open to the public, and will take place at Pratt Hall on the Mount Holyoke Campus in South Hadley, MA. Faculty Concert – Wednesday August 14, 2024 – 8:00 pm – Pratt Hall Auditorium Participant Concert – Friday August 16, 2024 – 7:30 pm – Pratt Hall Auditorium Pratt Hall is located on Lower Lake Road on the Mount Holyoke campus. Parking is in the lot on nearby Morgan Street ..read more

We are thrilled to announce that registration is open for the 28th annual Arabic Music Retreat. Returning to lead our faculty roster, all under the direction of Simon Shaheen, are: Charbel Rouhana (ud), Layth Sidiq (bowed strings, theory, chamber music), Najib Shaheen (`ud), Wanees Zurur (`ud, buzuq, violin), Dr. Iman Roushdy (Arabic diction), Tareq Rantisi (percussion), and Karim Nagi (percussion). New and returning this year: Ghada Ghanem is returning to the Retreat to lead the vocal department. Ghada taught at the inaugural Retreat in 1997, and we are thrilled to welcome her back. Naseem Al ..read more

The 28th Annual Arabic Music Retreat will be held August 10-17, 2024 at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts in the USA. Registration will open up in early 2024 and will be posted on our website. We look forward to gathering again at Mount Holyoke! If you would like to join our email list, please send a message to: arabicmusicretreat@gmail.com ..read more

Our August 18, 2023 concert will be broadcast live on youtube. Here is the link for the event. You can sign up for a concert reminder ahead of time. The concert takes place at 7:30 pm on Friday August 18, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/live/-TcLHjag17U?feature=share ..read more

The Arabic Music Retreat is back with an in-person Retreat this August for the first time since 2019, after three years of meeting on Zoom. We are delighted to be presenting a public concert on August 18, 2023 at 8:00 PM in Pratt Hall on the Mount Holyoke College Campus in South Hadley, MA. The concert will feature eight participant ensembles as well as a performance by the Retreat faculty. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served. Pratt Hall is located on Lower Lake Rd. near Morgan Street. Public parking is available nearby in the lot on Morgan Street. Lin ..read more

William Shaheen, Musician, Composer, Teacher, Retreat Faculty Member William Shaheen was the youngest of five siblings, a musician of the violin and oud, a composer, an optician, and a teacher. He was all of these things, and even then he was at his core an incredible brother, uncle and friend to so many. He passed peacefully on Saturday, October 1st surrounded by his family. The world has lost an incredibly gentle and kind human. William was fiercely loyal to his family, to his friends, to his staff, and his workplace of over two decades. He didn’t ask much of anyone else but he lived a life ..read more

Thanks to all the participants who attended the 2022 Arabic Music Retreat on Zoom. The faculty and participants all worked hard to make the event a special learning and musical experience, creating new community bonds even though we were on zoom. We look forward to convening in person in 2023. Thank you all so much. – Kay Campbell, Administrative Director ..read more

We are devastated to report that one of our leading faculty members, nay and flute virtuoso Bassam Saba, passed away on December 4, 2020 from COVID-19 complications. Bassam was a founding faculty member of the Arabic Music Retreat. His passing is a great loss not only to his family, but to all those connected with the Arabic Music Retreat and Arabic music. Bassam came to the U.S. in the early 1990’s after studying at the Moscow Conservatory. He met Simon Shaheen and immediately began playing concerts with Shaheen’s Near Eastern Music Ensemble. In addition to teaching at the Retreat, Mr. Saba l ..read more

On January 31, 2021, we held a Celebration of Life on zoom to honor Michel Merhej (1928-2020) and Bassam Saba (1959-2020), our dear faculty members who passed away due to COVID-19. We paid tribute to the wonderful achievements and personalities of these musical giants whom we all miss so much. Thank you to all who tuned in to watch, and to the many contributors who performed, made films and videos, and spoke. Our hearts go out to the families of Michel and Bassam; we offer our deepest condolences on your great loss. To watch a video recording of the event, click on ‘watch on facebook’ in the i ..read more

Below is the 2022 Online Retreat program in grid format. All times are listed for Eastern Daylight Time (New York Time ..read more