If Ravenna Festival’s deep connection with the city is also expressed in its celebration of Ravenna as a crossroads of peoples and cultures, last year’s collaboration born with the Festival delle Culture was destined to grow over time. On 24 April, the Rasi Theatre hosts Rasha Nahas, whose music reflects her family’s roots in a village in the Upper Galilee, the city of Haifa where she grew up, and Berlin, where Rasha lives today. In May, the Teatro Alighieri will showcase a weekend of music. Friday 23 May is time for Kamilya Jubran, former vocalist of Sabreen and a reference figure for a successful hybridisation of Arab classical tradition, Palestinian folk music, improvisation, and electronics. Saturday 24 offers a chance to discover Shamstep, the musical genre created by the band 47Soul (the group’s name alludes to 1947, the year before the first Arab-Israeli war), combining street music, electronic rhythms and funk, hip-hop and rock influences. Sunday 25 features Bashar Murad, a singer-songwriter and director whose pop music challenges stereotypes and highlights social issues.
Promoted by the Municipality of Ravenna – unità organizzativa Politiche per l’immigrazione e la cittadinanza, the Festival delle Culture addresses intercultural issues through different languages – literary, musical, artistic, theatrical, journalistic… – to strengthen social cohesion and improve the quality of civil coexistence, also in cooperation with migrant communities.
Thursday 24 April
Rasi Theatre, 9 pm
Rasha Nahas
vocals and guitar Rasha Nahas
bass Jelmer De Haan
drums Altair Chague
Friday 23 May
Alighieri Theatre, 9 pm
Kamilya Jubran
Saturday 24 May
Alighieri Theatre, 9 pm
47Soul
guitar Hamza Arnaout
vocals, percussions Tareq Abu Kwaik
vocals, keyboards Ramzy Sulieman
Sunday 25 May
Teatro Alighieri, 9 pm
Bashar Murad
vocals and keyboards Bashar Murad
synths Isam Elias
percussions & live electronics Einar Stefánsson