Now in its 15th season, the Northampton Arts Council's Four Sundays in February Series has become a winter tradition at the Academy of Music in Northampton.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., the academy is open again for "Rai: Algerian Music of the Street."

This program starts with the film "Khaled" by Gerald Fox.

The singers Khaled and Rachid Taha are leading exponents of rai music, which has given a voice to Algerian youth rebellion.

Khaled moved to France in 1986, where he launched his career with a single that sold over a million copies worldwide. His mixed influences - from traditional Egyptian music to the Beatles, flamenco and Jacques Brel - fused into a genre that transformed French pop music.

His compatriot, Rachid Taha, moved to France when he was 10. A cultural figure with powerful views on racism and the injustices in French society, he creates music that reflects these tensions; its energy and confidence, in Brian Eno's words, stems from the belief that music can still change the world. From Oran to Paris, this film traces the trajectory of these two singers and the ascent of rai on the world's pop music charts.

The film will be followed by a live performance by Syncop from Montreal.

Karim Benzaid and his band, Syncop, offer up a musical voyage through the history of rai, by interpreting classic songs and chart-toppers, alongside brand new original material steeped in their trademark North African-Western hybrid sound mixed with urban music, transporting us to the Sahara of old and new.

The event is free to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

Algerian music at the Academy

"Raï: Algerian Music of the Street" - Academy of Music, Northampton, Massachusetts, February 18th

Sunday, February 18, 2007 2pm, doors open 1.30pm

Academy of Music Theatre, 274 Main St., Northampton, MA 01060
Email: info@academyofmusictheatre.com
Phone: 413.584.9032
Fax: 413.587.0936