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Celebrating the Golden Age of Arab Music

Simon Shaheen performs at Duke March 5.

A Palestinian purveyor of Arab musical traditions, Simon Shaheen began playing the lute-like 'oud at age 5, before learning the violin and widening his repertoire to include both Western and Eastern styles.

He comes to duke this month with his 15-piece orchestra to perform an evening-length world premiere event, called Aswat, or "voices" in Arabic.

The show, at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 5 in Page Auditorium, will highlight the period between the 1920s and 1950s -- considered the golden age of Middle Eastern music -- and features vocalists from Palestine, Tunisia and Lebanon.

To purchase tickets to to tickets.duke.edu/show.asp or visit the University Box Office.