Khaled in concert, Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, July 12th 2008

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Khaled in concert

Saturday 12th July 2008

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Hope Street
Liverpool L1 9BP
UK

**On sale from 1st March 2008**

Tickets: +44/0 151 709 3789

website: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic: Home Page


A part of Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival 2008

Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival

Liverpool: European Capital of Culture 2008

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Imagine

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Hello all.

This is now on sale at Royal Liverpool Philharmonic: Khaled

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Tickets: £12.50, £14.50, £19.50, £25, £30 (boxes)

To purchase, click here



Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival

Khaled

* Saturday, 12 July 2008 7.30pm
* Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Algerian-born singer-songwriter Khaled - a huge star across European, Arabic and Asian countries and even more popular than Michael Jackson in India - is to perform at Philharmonic Hall on 12 July as a flagship event of Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival 2008.

Known as ‘The King of Raï’, Khaled is a phenomenon in the Arab world, with a popularity that has reached almost surreal proportions. In France, he is both a nationwide celebrity and the voice of the country’s Arab minority. This concert at the Phil will be his first UK performance in several years.

The word ‘Raï’ means ‘opinion’ in Arabic. Raï developed in western Algeria’s port city of Oran as early as the 1920s, with its origins in a mixture of Arabic love poetry and Bedouin folk song sung by women. Influences of French, Spanish and Moroccan music developed the sound, and in the 1950s and 60s the introduction of new instrumentation including trumpet, violin and the modern oud style, along with jazz influences, brought the distinctive call and response to the sound.

The contemporary Raï of which Khaled is King has mixed this with western music and technology to create a whole new musical movement: all of the tradition is retained but the urgent percussion of the darabuka hand-drum overlays kit and electronic beats to create compulsive rhythms. The new male stars of this music styled themselves “Cheb” meaning “young man” to emphasise the break they were making from the old guard (who were styled “Cheikh”, meaning master.) Thus, born in 1960 in Oran as Hadj-Brahim Khaled, his career began as Cheb Khaled, and in his provocative repertoire the singer has presented his opinions on life, the universe and everything. In the 70s and 80s, Raï became the voice for Algerian youth rebellion, just as rock ‘n’ roll was in 50s and 60s Britain.

Now known simply as Khaled, his songs have become anthems for women’s liberation and religious and cultural tolerance. He moved to France in the 1980s and became the first Algerian to sign to a Major French record label. His record sales figures rate comparison with other major artists performing in Liverpool in 2008 – in 1992 his monster hit single Didi sold well over a million copies in Europe alone, an estimated 7 million worldwide, and he scored an even bigger hit with his love song Aicha in 1996.

Khaled was the principal vocalist for Jean-Michel Jarre’s 14th July concert at the Arche de Triomphe in Paris in 1995 attended by 1.5 million people and beamed around the world. In 1998 he assembled the ‘Raï’ equivalent of the Three Tenors with Faudel and Rachid Taha, for a unique performance at the 17,000 capacity Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The resulting album 1,2,3 Soleils (1,2,3 Suns) has sold more than 2 million in France alone. He has worked with producers including Don Was, Michael Brook and Steve Hillage, and his most recent release (in the US) sees a guest appearance by guitarist Carlos Santana.

Taher Qassim MBE, Chair of Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, said:
"After the popular and successful Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival of last year, the Philharmonic Hall is once again bringing an artist of international repute to Liverpool, this time Khaled, the popular Raï musician. Khaled and his music are well known in the Arab World as well as other parts of the globe. I am delighted to have him performing in this year's Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival."

Simon Glinn, Executive Director of Liverpool Philharmonic Hall & Events and member of the Festival’s Executive Group, said:
“Khaled is an astonishing artist and his appearances in the UK have been very rare in recent years. We have been in discussions for more than three years to secure this performance during the 2008 Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, and we are grateful for the support of Liverpool Culture Company Limited and are proud to present Khaled as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture programme.”

Ngozi Ikoku, Festival Manager, said:
“We are thrilled to have Khaled 'The King of Raï' performing in this year's Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival. His performance will form a major highlight in our programme and is a great accomplishment for Liverpool.”

Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival brings a lively mixture of cultural activities ranging from dance, music, art, film and family events to food, from countries throughout the Arab world and from Britain to venues across Liverpool for two weeks in July. Last year’s festival saw a milestone concert from Lebanese oud virtuoso and composer Marcel Khalife with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, at Philharmonic Hall.

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Still tickets available at ALL prices

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Great that there's people coming from all over England, and a few from Scotland, so far ...

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Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival coming soon

June 8, 2008 -- Now in its seventh year, the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival is firmly established as a popular event on the city’s cultural calendar. The festival remains the only one of its kind in the UK and the 2008 programme has lined up a spectacular two week long celebration with over 30 events taking place throughout Liverpool as part of the city’s 2008 European Capital of Culture celebrations.

The programme features a host of cultural activity from across the Arab
world in the fields of visual arts, theatre, music, literature, dance, film and food which take place in a variety of venues.

The Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival provides a platform for international, national and local artists and communities and is expected to attract audiences, not just from Merseyside, but from across the UK and beyond.

The Festival launches at the freshly refurbished Bluecoat with Arabise Me (Friday 11 July 7.30pm - late), a dazzling array of music, live art and dance courtesy of Ziyarat, the independent cultural collective that took London’s V&A Museum by storm in 2006.

Claire Hamilton will be broadcasting BBC Merseyside’s Drivetime Show live from the launch at the Bluecoat and meeting some of the performers involved in the Festival.

Alongside Arabise Me, visitors are welcome to browse New Ends, Old Beginnings, a unique artistic exploration of the diverse cities of the Arab world from ancient civilisations to modern urban cultures. The exhibition is free and runs until Wednesday 3 September at the Bluecoat and Open Eye Gallery.

The Festival opening weekend continues with the hugely popular free Family Day, (Sunday 13 July, Sefton Park Palm House, 12.00pm–4.30pm), a celebration of creative activities and true Arabic hospitality hosted once again in the scenic surroundings of Sefton Park Palm House. This year, Festival organisers are delighted to welcome the Bedouin Jerry Can Band, a collective of semi-nomadic musicians, storytellers and coffee grinders from the Egyptian Sinai desert performing songs and poetry about ancient Arabian Tribes, fables of trusty camels, warnings of dastardly deeds and tales of unrequited love.

The Family Day also features Say’un Popular Arts, a group of musicians from the southern Yemeni region of Hadhramaut, performing Hadhrami and Bedouin songs on traditional instruments inspired by African dance rhythms.

As always there will be an Arabic Bazaar of stalls, food and workshops-something for the whole family.

The Festival pays tribute to the contribution of the UK’s Yemeni community in RIOT (Friday 18 July, Saturday 19 July, 7.30pm, Unity Theatre), a political satire set during the 1930 Yemeni seamen’s riot in South Shields. The play presents a love story between a young Yemeni seaman and a South Shields girl as tensions between their two communities grow.

The Festival partnership is particularly honoured to welcome Arabic superstar Khaled, famed for mixing Algerian ‘Raï’ with western music styles and creating the voice of Algerian youth in the 70s and 80s. Now ‘the king of Raï’ enjoys an almost surreal level of popularity and delivers a unique performance at the Philharmonic Hall (Saturday 12 July, 7.30 pm).

Also performing on stage is Reem Kelani the critically acclaimed Palestinian composer whose music fuses classical Arabic music with folk and jazz (Wednesday 23 July, 8.00pm, the Bluecoat).

This year the Festival is proud to bring its film programme in association with BAFTA. The BAFTA Goes to the Arab World on tour at LAAF features an impressive selection of films, researched by Mona Deeley of Zenith Foundation, from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Algeria with diverse themes of love, corruption, politics, marriage, class and dreams.

These include: A screening of 3 shorts from and on Iraq and Lebanon (Thursday 17 July, 6.30pm, FACT) bookended by a Q&A with the director of the Independent Film and Television College in Baghdad.

Chaos (Sunday 27 July, 3.00pm, FACT) is directed by Youssef Chanine, one of the most important directors in Egyptian cinema in what could turn out to be his last film.

There will also be a Gala Screening of Lawrence of Arabia hosted at the Philharmonic Hall (Sunday 27 July, 6.30pm) accompanied by an introduction to the film to celebrate the centenary of David Lean’s birth, the director of this seminal award winning piece of cinema.

Be sure not to miss a special a four day Middle Eastern Dance Bonanza (Thursday 17 – Sunday 20 July, the Bluecoat) which showcases traditional Arabian dances (Sahlala) and more contemporary interpretations (Shifting Sands). Headlined by the extraordinary Egyptian dancer, Djamila Hanan, performing for the first time in the UK, this promises to be a much sought after event.

A host of additional performances, conferences and workshops will make up a vibrant, sensuous and informative two week experience.

Festival Manager Ngozi Ikoku said: “We have been working towards the 2008 festival for over three years now, to bring you our biggest and richest celebration to date as part of the city’s European Capital of Culture programme. We invite you to come along, enjoy and take part in the festivities from across the Arab World and its diaspora.”

Festival programme and ticket information:

Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival 2008

or call 0151 702 5324.

For press information, interview requests or photographs please contact Adrian Pennington on 07737 970 930
or email penningtonadrian@hotmail.com