WMU Home > About WMU > WMU News

WMU News

Mosaic Trio comes to WMU for International Week

Nov. 11, 2005

KALAMAZOO--The Mosaic Trio, representing musicians from the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble, performs traditional instrumental music from the Arabic, Sephardic, Egyptian, Levantine, Turkish and Armenian repertoire Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 8:15 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University.

The program is part of a week-long series of events celebrating International Education Week. General admission tickets for the event are $10 and $5 for students and senior citizens and are available from the Miller Auditorium Ticket Office at (269) 387-2300 or toll-free (800) 228-9858. Remaining tickets will be available at the door.

The core of the Mosaic Trio consists of Hicham Chami, Kim Sopata, an Evanston-based flutist and educator, and Karim Nagi Mohammed, a Boston-based percussionist and educator. Chami is a Moroccan-born qanun (zither) performer based in Chicago, who studied qanun for nearly 20 years both in Morocco and the U.S. He is founder of the Mosaic Trio and the Chicago Classical Oriental Ensemble as well as Xauen Music, an organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of classical Arabic, Sephardic, Turkish and Armenian music.

Chami strives to communicate the beauty of traditional Oriental music to the American public through concerts, recordings and publications. Chami was included in a 2002 issue of Chicago Magazine's "Best of Chicago" as "best instrumentalist." He is an educator as well as a musician, conducting workshops and classes for children and adults in a variety of settings.

The Mosaic Trio's residency and performance are supported with funds from the Bullock Music Performance Institute, University Cultural Events Committee, Non-Western Music courses, and a grant from the College of Fine Arts International Initiatives Committee.

Following Mosaic's formal evening performance there will be a reception open to the public.

For more information, visit the Bullock Institute on the Web at www.wmich.edu/mus_bpi.

Related article
WMU celebrates International Education Week

Media contact: Kevin West, (269) 387-4678, kevin.west@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/wmu/news