NASMĀT CARTHAGE

This season, the festival is taking a new direction. “We want to showcase African cultures in their Arab dimension,” explains curator Naseer Shamma. “This expansion has to do not only with geographical realities, but with shared memory, with rhythms that arise from the earth itself, and with voices that have remained alive in the human spirit throughout the ages.” Shamma—who will not be performing himself this year but will instead present a solo recital in March—has invited five ensembles featuring musicians from various African countries whose musical identities are shaped by centuries-old traditions. “This music has been passed down from one generation to the next,” he says, “not merely as a legacy, but as a living, breathing organism that transforms and evolves, repeatedly reaffirming that what springs from the human soul never perishes.”

The festival’s fourth concert focuses on Tunisia. The Nasmāt Carthage quartet, led by multi-instrumentalist Ali Dridi, represents the country’s unique status as a cultural melting pot.

ARTISTS

• Ali Dridi, violin and clarinet
• Hana Boukhris, kanun
• Haitham Ben Ali, piano
• Mohamed Ben Hamida, percussion