America's Other Orchestras: Arab American Ensemble Series Final Episode

posted on: Jan 25, 2017

The National Arab Orchestra and Living up to the Name

BY: Sami Asmar/Contributing Writer

When the word national is part of a name, the usual expectation is that the named entity is large and government-sponsored, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, or a venture with branches in many states, such as National Basketball Association. The National Arab Orchestra (NAO) does not fit these models and was likely named strategically out of an ambition to one day truly become a national orchestra for all Arabs in the US. By all accounts, it has reached such ambition.

Around 2009, Arab Americans outside Michigan heard about and appreciated the Michigan Arab Orchestra (MAO) the predecessor to NAO, and its Takht Ensemble spinoff. They also observed that its founder, Michael Ibrahim is not a normal musician. He has the energy of a storm of nature; multi-instrumentalist, and multi-soloist and improviser, the highly talented young man does not seem to sit still. Classically trained in the bassoon and other instruments, he mastered Western and Eastern music at an early age. First moved as a child by the chants of his Syrian Orthodox priest grandfather, he pursued music education and earned a bachelor’s degree in music at Eastern Michigan University and a master’s degree in conducting at Wayne State, he was moved again by the albums of Simon Shaheen, with whom he later studied at the Arab Music Retreat.

Michael started MAO and quickly grew it to a 28-piece orchestra. The Arab community of the state quickly and warmly adopted it as their own proud child. The group recruited Arab and non-Arab musicians and sought young singers in the area. They performed very intricate compositions that require a lot of training and pleased nostalgic audiences with classics from Egypt and the Levant.

Despite the presence of many active musicians and ensembles, MAO’s audiences and support kept growing, as did Michael’s ambition and dreams. He toured on the East Coast and received more exposure in prestigious concert halls. He then wanted to transform his group into a national orchestra of professional American and Arab American musicians who would carry the message of the beauty of Arab arts and the tarab that we appreciate to the nation as a whole.  

Due to his young age, there were doubters for sure, but that did not stop him. He applied for grants for various projects that were implemented very successfully and repeatedly proved his musical as well as managerial talents. A group of prominent community supporters served as a board of directors and helped him start the Nation Arab Orchestra, a non-profit organization. Media coverage followed that included reports by Aljazeera and the prestigious Aramco World magazine. NOA often makes appearances with American orchestras as a form of cross-cultural dialogue, such as the one titles “Mideast x Midwest,” which also delivers a strong message to American audiences as some have called a comparative exploration of musical diversity.

In a short period of a few years, NAO has left an impact in the world of music. Students watch their numerous videos to learn the classics as opposed to going to the original recordings, due to the quality of the work and the beautiful interpretation. Musicians travel from all states to participate in NAO’s performances, making it truly national. Ibrahim’s touching nay solos are highly anticipated at NOA’s appearances, and new signers are discovered often to the delight of audiences. NOA’s future will be even more amazing.

Now more than eve, a national platform for Arab arts is needed. The beauty of the culture will continue to spread with the efforts of NOA, its founder and active members, as well as its board. Their success is the community’s success.

We have shown in this series that many orchestras exist around the nation in various forms, community, professional, and academic as well as various sizes with incredible talents by Arab Americans and interested Americans. They are a tremendous source of pride to the community and the entire nation. Having a national leader, however, is key to continued exposure and success in delivering the message. It is big responsibility having national in the name, and NOA is now living up to the responsibility.