Arabic Music Theory & ensemble Play by Habib Hanna, Palestine

Habib Hanna came back from Palestine to Zanzibar the second time from August 13-23 2003 to continue with the DCMA teacher's training which was begun in July 2002. The mornings were dedicated to studies of music theory and solfeggio and in the afternoon the taarab musicians met with Habib for a 2-hour intensive training in ensemble play. During this time they explored new repertoire and began arranging traditional Zanzibar songs for instrumentals in a collaborative effort which brought back to Zanzibar the techniques and and theory learnt in the Arabic repertoire.

In a spontaneously organized concert, the group performed their pieces in front of a very appreciative audience. Mr. Habib Hanna has many years of teaching experience at various institutions (including Al Urmawi, Birzeit University, Ramallah Music Conservatoire) and performs regularly with his own band, Zimar. He now plans to come back to Zanzibar for several times in order to do more work on arrangements of traditional Zanzibar repertoire with Baladna Taarab which will then be recorded and published as a CD.

• Arabic Theory I
• Arabic Theory II
• Oud - Habib Hanna