ABSTRACT Title of thesis: ARAB MUSICIANS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA: ETHNICITY AND IDENTITY Christina Campo-Abdoun, Master of Arts, 2011 Thesis directed by: Professor J. Lawrence Witzleben Musicians living in the Arab Diaspora around the Washington, D.C. metro area are a small group of multi-faceted individuals with significant contributions and intentions to propagate and disseminate their music. Various levels of identity are discussed and analyzed, including self-identity, group/ collective identity, and Arab ethnic identity. The performance and negotiation of Arab ethnic identity is apparent in selected repertoire, instrumentation, musical style, technique and expression, shared conversations about music, and worldview on Arabic music and its future. For some musicians, further evidence of self-construction of one’s ethnic identity entails choice of name, costume, and venue. Research completed is based on fieldwork, observations, participant-observations, interviews, and communications by phone and email. This thesis introduces concepts of Arabic music, discusses recent literature, reveals findings from case studies on individual Arab musicians and venues, and analyzes Arab identity and ethnicity in relation to particular definitions of identity found in anthropological and ethnomusicological writings. Musical lyrics, translations, transcriptions, quotes, discussions, analyses, as well as charts and diagrams of self-identity analyses are provided as evidence of the performance and negotiation of Arab identity. ARAB MUSICIANS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA: ETHNICITY AND IDENTITY By Christina K. Campo-Abdoun Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 2011 Advisory Committee: Professor J. Lawrence Witzleben, Chair Professor Robert Provine Professor Boden Sandstrom © Copyright by Christina K. Campo-Abdoun 2011 Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my husband Seifed-Din Abdoun, for his love and support, and to my children, Savana, Ramses, and Baby Abdoun. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Lawrence Witzleben for his support and investment of time and effort. Thanks to Dr. Jonathan Dueck and Dr. Carolina Robertson for their encouragement. I also would thank the community of Arab musicians in the Washington, D.C. area for allowing me the opportunity to enter their world and learn about their music and much more. iii Table of Contents Advisory Committee Dedication..................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents......................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………..… vi List of Figures …………………………………………………………………..….. vii Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 A. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 B. Background of this Study..................................................................................... 1 C. Purpose of Research........................................................................................... 11 D. Background on Arabic Music ............................................................................ 12 1. Instruments...................................................................................................... 15 2. Elements of Arabic Music .............................................................................. 16 3. Arabic Musical Genres ................................................................................... 26 E. Review of Literature........................................................................................... 31 1. Arabic Music in the Diaspora ......................................................................... 31 2. Ethnicity and Identity ..................................................................................... 34 F. Concern for authenticity …………………...………...……………………...... 36 Chapter I: Case Studies: Two Experiences in Arabic Music Performance ................ 38 A. Casablanca……………………………………...………...………………….. 38 1. Our Arrival ……………………………………...………...…………….. 38 2. Al-Musiqā al-Arabiyyā …………………...………...…………………… 39 3. The Appearance of Zahra …………………...………...…………………. 41 4. The Moũtreb Sings…………………...………...……………………........ 43 5. The Audience Performs …………………...………...…………………... 44 6. We Dance …………………...………...…………………….…………… 47 7. Casablanca …………………...………...…………………….…………...47 8. “Madam Casablanca” …………………...………...……………………...48 B. Marcel Khalife at the Lincoln Center ………………………………................50 Chapter II: Five Portraits of Arab Musicians.............................................................. 54 A. Hilal Khouri ....................................................................................................... 54 iv B. Farid Miller ........................................................................................................ 62 C. Souheil Younes .................................................................................................. 65 D. Mohamed Amir.................................................................................................. 70 E. Shawkat Sayyad.................................................................................................. 72 Chapter III: Identity and Ethnicity.............................................................................. 78 A. Theories of Identity............................................................................................ 78 1. Definitions of Identity …………………...………...……………………...78 2. Social and Collective Identity as Ethnic Identity …………………………81 3. Cultural Identity …………………...………...……………………............82 B. Analysis of Musicians' Identities ....................................................................... 86 1. Individual Musical Identities …………………...………...………………86 2. Collective Arab Identity through Musical Performance…………………..88 3. Arab Identity …………………...………...…………………….................93 Chapter IV: Meanings and Values for Arab Musicians.............................................. 95 A. Authenticity in Musical Performance; what is significant about it? ………..…95 B. Tradition............................................................................................................. 98 C. Adaptation .......................................................................................................... 98 D. Dissemination of Music ................................................................................... 104 Chapter V: Conclusions and Directions for Further Research.................................. 119 Appendix 1 …………………...………...…………………….………………..….. 112 Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 113 v List of Tables Table 1A: Program of an Evening's Performance of Arabic Music (First Half) ...… 29 Table 1B: Program of an Evening's Performance of Arabic Music (second Half) … 30 Table 2: Chart of Cross-Analyzed Relationships Among Arab Musicians, Musical Performance, and Arabic Musical Themes ……………………...…84 Table 3: Rubric of Characteristics of Five Featured Arab Musicians ………………90 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Scale of Māqām Bayāti Nāwā ………………………………………….…18 Figure 2: Phase and tone levels in Tāqasim on Māqām Bayāti Nāwā ………………19 Figure 3: Transcription of Munir Bashir’s Tāqsim on Bayāti Nāwā ………………..19 Figure 4: “How Sweet is the Moon?” Lyric Transcription ……………………….....44 Figure 5: Identity Map of Chris “Hilal” Khouri …………………………………….59 Figure 6: Wadi al-Sāfi Lyric Transcription Arabic, English …………………........ 60 Figure 7: Musical Transcription of Al Laylu Ya Laila (The Night, Oh Laila) …….. 61 Figure 8: Identity Map of Farid Miller …………………………………………….. 65 Figure 9: Identity Map of Souheil Younes ………………………………………… 67 Figure 10: Lyric Transcription of Wa Ana Amshi (As I Walk) …………………….68 Figure 11: Musical Transcription of [Wa] Ana Amshi (As I Walk) ………………..69 Figure 12: Lyric Transcription of Sawwah (Wanderer) …………………………….77 vii A. Introduction The topic of this thesis is ethnicity and the negotiation of Arab identity in Arabic music by musicians in the Arab diaspora living and performing regularly in and around the Washington, D.C. metro area. Throughout the process of researching Arab musicians and their performances, I observed my informants’ multi-faceted identities and how they conveyed them through music. During interviews and observations, each musician expressed his own unique interweaving of personal, family, ethnic, national, political, artistic and other various identities. What is fascinating about each Arab musician is how he unfolds and displays layers of identity, negotiating and subtly expressing them according to the context of a situation. The context and performance of identity is variable according to the location and the company each musician keeps. Through performance events …participants may express or learn a sense of self that is related to their ethnicity, their nationality, and their Arab- American community.1 B. Background of this Study This thesis will apply some explanations of a few theories