Middle Eastern

Hip string quartet Brooklyn Rider return to The Cedar, this time with Iranian kamancheh (Persian bowed string instrument) player and classical composer Kayhan Kalhor, with whom they collaborated on the highly praised recording Silent City (2008).

The program will include 'Atashgah', 'Beloved, do not let me be discouraged', and 'Three Persian Miniatures', all by Colin Jacobsen, 'Culai', which is a piece for string quartet by Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin that was a commission for Brooklyn rider by Chamber Music America's Classical Commissioning Grant, and other works.

The Cedar is now air-conditioned for your year-round comfort!

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Yemen Blues is a nine-member Sephardic music ensemble, which has recently taken the international music scene by storm. Founded by Israeli bassist Omer Avital and Israeli-Yemenite singer Ravid Kahalani, this band is an original and fascinating synergy of traditional Yemenite melodies and the world of blues, jazz and funk. Flavors of its West African roots swirl through enhanced modern compositions to create a breathtaking experience—a mixture of beautiful, complex grooves with an amazing live energy. Yemen Blues has captivated audiences around the globe. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience Yemen Blues in their first Twin Cities appearance.

The Cedar is now fully air-conditioned for your year-round comfort!

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"A few muttered words in Arabic, shrouded in echo. And then it erupts. A day-glo cloudburst of warpspeed Bontempi rhythms and snaking microtonal melodies. Psychedelic invocation to some lascivious simultaneist idol. Urgent glossolalia of electronic thunder and lightning. Amphetamine-powered merengué of dysmorphic frequencies. Notes from between the notes. Beats like the jerry-rigged machine gun fire of exurban guerrila fighters. Cosmopolitan party music from the end times. The death rattle of globalisation, echoing across the scarred plains of bomb-ravaged dreamscapes." (The Quietus)

Syrian mega-pop star and wedding singer Omar Souleyman brings his frenetic dance music to The Cedar!

Tickets go on sale at noon Fri Aug 27 from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), from hard-working Cedar volunteers in the front lobby during shows, from Cedar outlets (Electric Fetus, Irish on Grand, Homestead Pickin' Parlor, and Depth of Field), and online at Ticketweb.

The Yuval Ron Ensemble endeavors to alleviate national, racial, religious and cultural divides by uniting the music and dance of the opposing people of the Middle East into a unique mystical, spiritual and inspiring musical celebration. The Ensemble includes Jewish and Arabic musicians as well as Christian Armenian artists who have been actively involved in creating musical bridges between people of various faiths and ethnic groups worldwide. Formed in 1999, and led by Oscar winning composer Yuval Ron (music for "West Bank Story"), the Ensemble was featured to perform at the International Sacred Music Festival of Fez Morocco, and was chosen to headline the benefit concert for "Seeds of Compassion" - the Dalai Lama's conference - in Seattle, WA. In 2002 and 2005, the ensemble was featured at the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles and was honored to be the first American-based Middle Eastern Ensemble to perform at an International Peace Festival '05 in South Korea.