Ashmont Hill Chamber Music will host Safaafir with Hamid Al-Saadi, a US-based ensemble that performs classic Iraqi maqam on Sun., Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. at Dorchester’s Peabody Hall on Ashmont Street.
The group is led by Amir ElSaffar and his sister, Dena, two American siblings of Iraqi descent, who trained in Western music but eventually found their way into Iraqi music.
Born in Iraq in 1958, Hamid Al-Saadi’s artistic, musical and educational journey with the Iraqi maqam began from childhood, inspired by his love of the Iraqi and Baghdadi culture, the Arabic language, music and poetry.
He studied, practiced, and performed the maqam for several years and is now considered to be one of the most highly acclaimed musicians and scholars on this subject, having learned the art of singing and performing the Iraqi maqam from the Yusuf Omar (1918-1987), who pronounced Al-Saadi as his successor.
Found primarily in the cities of Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk, and Basra, the maqam repertoire draws upon musical styles of the many populations in Iraq, such as the Bedouins, rural Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen.
Ashmont Hill Chamber Music grew out of informally organized house concerts in the neighborhood starting in the 1970s and now hosts concerts of world-class chamber music in Peabody Hall and at All Saints’ Church in Dorchester. Recent concerts have included the Borromeo, Harlem, Armida, Omar and Aeolus string quartets; the Claremont Trio; violinists Tessa Lark, Randall Goosby and Daniel Bernard Roumain; and members of Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble.
Concerts for the remaining season, which extends into 2022, include: Oct. 10, Parker Quartet; Nov. 14: Sterling Elliott, cello with Wynona Yinuo Wang, piano; Feb. 13: Randall Goosby, violin; March 13: An Tran, Vietnamese classical guitarist; April 17: Nina C. Young + Hub New music; May 15: Bach Project, featuring Fiona Last, oboe d’ arnore with soloists, Ashmont Boys Choir, and instrumental ensemble.
All shows are on Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $18 for students, $3 for EBT cardholders, and children under 18 are admitted free. For more information visit ahchambermusic.org.
