September 9, 2018
Cairo – The U.S. Embassy in Cairo in partnership with the Center Stage Program is pleased to announce the U.S. debut of Mohamed Abozekry & Karkadé. The band will tour seven cities across the northeast United States from September 7-28, 2018, from a large public performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to a concert in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania as part of a residency at Bucknell University. These and other engagements around the U.S. will bring Karkadé’s reimagined oud stylings to U.S. audiences, highlighting the fresh and innovative direction of contemporary Egyptian music.
Mohamed Abozekry is a virtuoso oud prodigy who, with his band Karkadé, combines Egypt’s popular and classical music traditions, Sufi calls, and secular poetry with a new instrumental project. Karkadé will bring to U.S. audiences a sound that revisits Egyptian music of the 1920s-1950s – Egypt’s ‘golden age’ – and its spirit of improvisation.
Since 2012, the Center Stage arts exchange program, supported by the U.S. Department of State, has welcomed important new voices into the cultural dialogue of the United States, enlarging our world and sharing diverse, global perspectives directly with communities in the U.S. Now in its fourth season, Center Stage brings diverse groups of international musicians to tour the U.S. from coast to coast, hosted by colleges and universities, festivals, music clubs, and cultural centers. Each tour includes residencies in large cities and small towns, and a range of activities from performances, workshops, and discussions, to artist-to-artist exchanges, masterclasses, and community gatherings.
Center Stage is a public diplomacy initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations, with support from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. General management is provided by Lisa Booth Management, Inc. Visit www.centerstageUS.org. Cultural and artistic exchanges are just one way the United States partners with the people and government of Egypt. Find out more at the Embassy’s website, https://eg.usembassy.gov, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @USEmbassyCairo.
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