Arab programs thrive in fertile Philly

It began with an idea for a summer camp - a handful of kids getting a taste of Arab music and language for a few weeks at the Morris Arboretum, in the troubled times after 9/11.

From a tiny beginning - the first camp, 10 years ago, attracted 18 children - Al Bustan Seeds of Culture has flowered into something unique in the United States, an organization that:

maintains a resident ensemble of first-rate musicians versed in classical Arab music;

offers a professional performance and residency series throughout the year with internationally known guest artists;

conducts educational programs for adults and children alike;

works with the Philadelphia School District to bring Arab language and music to the schools.

Al Bustan - "the garden" in Arabic - still holds its summer camp, now about 55 children who gather at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy for two weeks of language and art in July. School programs involve about 300 students regularly, and Al Bustan reaches 5,000 people with all its programs these days.

Everything is organized and administered out of the basement of the founder's house in West Philadelphia.

"We have evolved to presenting and teaching - not just teaching, but presenting Arabic language, arts, and culture," said founder Hazami Sayed, 47, who trained as an architect and won a 2012 Leeway Foundation Transformation Award for her work with Al Bustan. "We realized from our on-the-ground experience that [language, arts, and culture] really needed to go hand in hand."

In just the last few weeks, as the organization prepares for its 10th-anniversary celebration Saturday at the Trinity Center, 22d and Spruce Streets, Al Bustan has hosted a recital at Irvine Auditorium on the University of Pennsylvania campus, featuring two dozen children from John Moffet Elementary School.

Their teacher was Al Bustan's master percussionist, Hafez El Ali Kotain, a five-time winner of national percussion competitions in Syria. The children were joined by the Philadelphia Arab Percussion Ensemble, who have been studying percussion under Al Bustan's auspices for years.

They were followed by the Philadelphia Arab Music Ensemble, an unusual collection of top musicians playing under the direction of violinist Hanna Khoury, winner of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, who has played with Daniel Barenboim, Beyoncé, Youssou N'Dour, and Lebanese star Fairuz.

Just a few weeks ago, Al Bustan brought Lebanese vocalist Rima Khcheich to the United States for a week-long residency comprising rehearsals, demonstrations, and concerts in Philadelphia and New York.

She sang with the Wilmington Children's Chorus and Al Bustan's resident Philadelphia Arab chamber (or takht) ensemble - Khoury on violin, Kotain on percussion, Kinan Idnawi on oud, Hicham Chami on qanun, and Kinan Abou-afach on cello.

Such events and programs - the concert series and workshops and residencies; ensembles; programs with children at Moffet, Northeast High School, and other schoools in the Philadelphia School District; summer camp; language instruction; the visual arts instruction; music instruction (including for-credit classes at Penn) - everything is put together on a shoestring in Sayed's basement.

"One thing has led to another," she said this week. "It's true that we've stayed within the mission of presenting Arab language and culture. But I also think we've quickly grown, with the reality that we've stretched our resources to the limit."

Financially, the organization is solid, Sayed said. Every year has shown growth in revenue and expenditures, according to federal tax filings. Last year, revenue was about $460,000.

No debt. No capital expenditures.

"We've been able to grow putting all our money into programming and not into overhead costs," Hazami said. "So, basically, all the money coming in is going to programs."

With Hanna on board for the last three years as the organization's first music director, the ideas for additional programming have exploded. He has managed to work up a way to translate and notate Arabic music so that it can be transcribed and used by other ensembles. He conceives of the concert series as something that can be presented not just in Philadelphia but in other cities as well.

Digital and online resources - for the teaching of Arabic music - are already up and running.

"They're really great, but we need more of them," said Al Bustan board chairman Omar Harb, manager of outreach activities at the Penn Center for Bioinformatics.

Sayed basically sees Al Bustan creating its audience as it goes.

"All of this we've done because everybody believes in it so much and wants to see it grow," she said. "There's no shortage of ideas. But we have to figure out what is realistic for us to run after and actually implement. That's a challenge."