"The coincidence of our musical pedigree and development, being two Arab musicians with Juilliard School education, made it inevitable that we meet on more than one plane. Personal friendship and artistic affinity together led to a common creative vision and a joint professional pursuit that we find ever enriching and refreshing.

Our music tends to walk a fine line between the composed and the improvised, and our musical vocabulary reflects this delicate posture. The music we love to make is both broad and personal, anchored in tradition yet wide open to the full sweep of the contemporary lexicon. As much as our music gravitates towards the Syria-Lebanon region, our sails navigate the wider Arab musical seascape as well as the world musical scene that we have been exploring, relishing, and absorbing.

It has been said that music is the art of becoming. In our work, the struggle of becoming is also a struggle for encompassing and embracing otherness and difference, giving little heed to stylistic labels. Is our music Western or Arabic, traditional or contemporary, classical or techno, Acoustic or electronica? Are we a duo, or two soloists in a contest?

We are two twenty-first century troubadours whose ambition is to create music that is true to the constant becoming of our existence. In that, we find infinite joy."

Kinan Azmeh (Clarinet) & Rami Khalifé (Piano)
www.kinanazmeh.com | www.ramikhalife.com

all concert proceeds will support non-profits in Lebanon as part of the 'Boston to Lebanon' campaign
Lebanese Club at MIT © 2007| http://web.mit.edu/lebanon