'Fes'-tival Music

As the lights dimmed and with the crowd fully seated, Zeyba Rahman, artistic director of "Spirit of Fes on Tour," came on stage. She stood before an ambient purple backdrop, and a semi-circle of seats, microphones and instruments, traditional to the Moroccan homeland from which the program originates. She began to speak of the festival and its roots, and described it as a "nine day festival that celebrates all the colors of cultures around the world."

Wednesday night, a diverse audience, made primarily of older patrons with the occasional young face, gathered to celebrate world diversity through music, singing, and dance thanks to the "Spirit of Fes: Paths to Hope," which is running its second U.S. tour. The tour's mission is to bring the message of peace beyond Morocco - to the world.

The concert was broken into three sections covering three different cultures. It began with a combination of Hindu and Christian traditional music. The crowd was introduced one-by-one to the performers, each from a different background and specializing in a different form of music. Featured were Moroccan-American Gerard Edery on guitar and vocals, Lebanese-American Jamey Haddad on percussion, American Susan Hellauer on vocals and Baroque guitar, Aruna Sairam of India on vocals and Palestinian-American Zafer Tawil on violin and oud.

From the start, the crowd was captivated by the chemistry of these musicians from different corners of the world, and their ability to transcend all borders and touch the soul. The performance melded cultures with ease, and created an awe-inspiring sound like nothing else. From a duet between the powerful voice of Edery and the beautiful resonance of Hellauer to Tawil's epic sound, the show was a moving experience. The true stand-out performance of the evening was Aruna Sairam, who had a captivating voice with an almost mystic feel to it.

"I enjoyed watching each culture representing the human spirit in so many different ways," said Eric Nigosanti, a 3rd-semester civil engineering major.

"Zafer Tawil on the oud was excellent," said John Paganetti, a 3rd-semester American Studies major.

Following intermission was the Daqqa Roudania of Taroudant, a group of craftsmen and tanners who used percussion instruments, like tambourines, neffars and metal rattlers, to create their sound.

The group entered through a side door into the audience and traveled to the stage, while chanting, clapping and tapping on percussion instruments. Dressed in traditional garb, they sat in a semi circle with instruments at hand. They combined dancing, stomping of feet and clapping, all backed by the tambourines and chanting.

The first five performers returned to the stage to assist the Daqqa Roudania of Taroudant to finish off their set with additional percussion and vocal back-ups. The crowd joined in on the fun as they clapped along to the music, as the show wrapped up with just as much energy as it started with.

As the lights came back on, performers were met with a standing ovation, and after a night of traveling all around the world, its important to know cultural barriers can be overcome with a little song and dance.