2nd Anniversary & Open House
Celebrate two great years and a third to come

Seating Limited. RSVP is now CLOSED.

The story of Beit Zatoun continues thanks to ever-increasing circle of friends, guests and inspiration. Together we are creating a uniquely interesting and relevant space where ideas, culture and activism converge.

Join the Beit Zatoun community for an evening of Middle Eastern sounds and flavours to go along with sharing and friendships and not a little debate.

~ Flavours begin at 6:30 pm
Refreshments, savories and desserts.

~ Sounds begin at 8:00 pm
Amazing performances from very generous friends of Beit Zatoun who have donated their time and talent to create this exciting evening.

~ George Sawa and
Raymond Sarweh

~ Waleed Abdulhamid

~ Maryem Hassan Tollar
and Roula Said
with Naghmeh Farahmand

Seating Limited. RSVP recommended, form at bottom of page

Artist Bios
George Sawa is from Alexandria, Egypt. He is a medieval historian of Arab music, specializing in the writing of Al-Farabi and Al-Asfahani. He is also a virtuoso qanun player and teacher.
He studied voice, theory, and qanun at the Higher Institute of Arabic Music, where his qanun teachers were Muhammad al-Sa'douni (a student of Mustapha Bey Reda), Milad Mansour (a student of 'Abdel-Hamid al-Addabi), Amin Fahmi and Mustapha Kamel.
After immigrating to Canada in 1970, he studied ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto, and obtained his doctorate in historical Arabic musicology at the Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on medieval, modern, and religious music of the Middle East at the University of Toronto and at York University, where he recently held the Noor Chair in Islamic Studies.
George is the author of Music Performance Practice in the Early Abbasid Era, c132-320 AH/750-932 AD (Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies, Toronto, 1989; rpt. by The Institute of Mediaeval Music, Ottawa, 2004). His second book, Theories of Rhythms in Arabic Writings, 750-950 AD (Institute of Mediaeval Music) is forthcoming.
He is the author of 40 articles on Arabic music history, including entries for The Dictionary of the Middle Ages, The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada and The Encyclopedia of Islam. He is frequently invited to give papers, presentations, and lectures at international conferences in the Middle East, North America, and Europe, speaking on various aspects of medieval and modern Arabic music, as well as workshops on the performance of Arabic classical music.
George has given numerous concerts in Europe, North America and the Middle East. He is founder and director of the Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble, which has been heard in venues across Canada and the USA, and has been broadcast on the CBC. He has recorded with Maureen Forrester, Raffi, Bram Morrisson and R. Murray Schafer.

Raymond Sarweh was born in Damascus, Syria, into a well known family of professional musicians. He studied percussion with 'Abdel-Men'em Isma'il, and theory with his brothers Selim and Emile Sarweh, obtaining his Arabic music degree from the Damascus Conservatory of Music.
Before immigrating to Canada, he performed in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, with many famous Arab singers and dancers. After coming to Canada, he created the first professional Arabic music band in Toronto and performed extensively in many Canadian cities, as well as in the USA and Latin America.
Acknowledged as a virtuoso tambourine performer, as well as a singer, lutenist and composer, Raymond has performed with The Traditional Arabic Music Ensemble at many Toronto venues including the Royal Ontario Museum, CBC, Harbourfront, and the Music Garden.

Waleed Abdulhamid is multi-instrumentalist, composer, vocalist, producer and filmmaker. Waleed has been an active member of the Toronto music scene since his arrival in Canada in 1992. He demonstrates his versatility on strings and percussion instruments. He is known for his striking vocals, his innovative bass technique and his speed and precision on percussion.
Born in Sudan, Waleed began performing at the age of 6 on a popular weekly children's television show and on a radio show. Before leaving Sudan, he toured across his country, as well as across the Middle East. On the way to Canada, he performed, recorded and toured at major music festivals in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Oslo, as well as in Finland and Iceland.
Waleed has played, toured and recorded with the pop/rock band, The Claymen, African band, AfroNubians, world jazz artist, Mosa Neshama and reggae band, Solid Rock. He also works extensively as a studio musician and arranger with many local R&B bands. He regularly appears at Canadian music festivals across Canada.
Waleed directed the award winning documentary "Let's Find Away". As music and theatre director Waleed has directed a series of shows at the Caliban Arts Theatre (Freedom Live), Inner Stage, and various dance companies. Waleed is also greatly respected for his teaching abilities. He is a teacher at Humber College as well as teaching "World of Music" at Hart House - University of Toronto. He has taught music in various Toronto high schools, Full Circle Productions and private tutorials.

Maryem Tollar is an extraordinary singer, composer and songwriter. She is Egyptian-Canadian and lives in Toronto. Since the mid-nineties she has been an integral part of Canadian music. She helped forge the acceptance of music from diverse cultures in groups like Maza Meze and Doula. She has become the favourite singer of composer Christos Hatzis, lending her voice to such highly received works as Constantinople and Sepulcher of Life, and toured with rumba flamenco guitarist, Jesse Cook. She has lent her voice to the cause of peace in the Middle East and has composed and sung for theatre, dance, film and television.
She has recorded three of her own CDs and was featured with Patricia O'Callahan and the Gryphon Trio on the JUNO award winning recording "Constantinople". From concert hall to club to festival site Maryem has won rave reviews for her performances in an encyclopedic array of contexts.
What Maryem likes to do most is combine all the music she loves best and sing it with her own ensemble. With a repertoire that runs from traditional Arabic songs, hundreds of years old, to settings of the work of Egyptian-Canadian poet Ehab Lotayef, to her own and husband Ernie Tollar's creations, Maryem Tollar opens up a world of wonderful music. Maryem was 2009 JUNO Nominee Best World Music Recording.  More @ maryemtollar.com

Roula Said is a multifaceted Palestinian-Canadian artist who has dedicated her talents to Middle Eastern music and dance. One of Canada's leading lights in the world of bellydance, Roula is the director of Om Laila Bellydance, the producer of FunkaBelly - Toronto's premier global Grooves Dance Party and Bellydance Cabaret, and the vocalist, dancer and percussionista of Gypsy/Arabic funk band, Nomadica (which she co-leads with trumpeter and composer, David Buchbinder).
She is best known for bringing her unique style to the arena of world and fusion music. As an Arabic musician, she sings and plays qanun, having studied with having studied with George Sawa, Simon Shaheen, Bassam Bishara and master musicians in Syria. Some of Roula's creative projects past and present include the Arabic music group Doula with vocalist Maryem Tollar, the Canadian global music ensemble Maza Meze and numerous projects with her husband David Buchbinder.
Roula is an inspiring teacher who has been sharing the wisdom and pleasure of bellydance for over 20 years. She has taught workshops from coast to coast in Canada, as well as in the US. Along with her warm and poetic teaching style, Roula also brings to students her fluency in the Arabic language and vast knowledge of Middle Eastern music.
Roula's latest passion and work in progress is "Om Laila: Bellydance for Body and Soul." Om Laila is a new holistic system for bellydance instruction, a culmination of 20 years of devotion to Middle Eastern dance and music, as well as related movement disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique and Continuum Movement.  More @ www.omlaila.com

Naghmeh Farahmand was born in 1980 in Tehran, Iran. The daughter of Mahmoud Farahmand, one of the leading percussion masters in Iran, she learned the rhythmic patterns of Persian traditional music from her father before studying Kurdish rhythms on daf with Bijan Kamkar and santour with Faramarz Payvar and Pashang Kamkar. Naghmeh has performed in many festivals in Iran and countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Naghmeh is the founder of Sharghi Percussion Ensemble and has composed many percussion pieces while collaborating with Iran's national TV, recording numerous pieces and live performances. She is also skillful in playing other percussions such as dayereh, darbuka, kanjira, cajon udu and drumset.

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Need to know:
- RSVP required (see bottom of page for form)
- Doors open at 6:15
- $20 donation (suggested minimum)
- Accessible on demand via portable ramp; washrooms not accessible
- Please avoid using strong-scented products due to sensitivities

Tasty refreshments (non-alcoholic) and snacks with Zatoun oliveoil+za'atar dipping. PLUS some special treats.