Al-Kindi Ensemble
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Founded in 1983 in Aleppo by Julien Weiss as a tribute to Al-Kindi, a philosopher and music theorist of Arab world, Al Kindi Ensemble began its journey with the spirit to explore Arab-Andalusian, Oriental, Turkish and Iranian influences in music. The ensemble wanted to acquire a repertoire from the entire Arab world. At the beginning the group consisted of only three instrumentalists. The Egyptian Tar and Riqq player Adel Schams Eldin, Julien Weiss and the Syrian Nay player Ziad Kadhi Amin. Initially, the ensemble only played instrumental pieces. Julien Weiss later decided to expand the group. He traveled to Syria and met with Sheikh Hamza Shakkûr, a well-known singer of classical music. Shakkûr was also the head of the Sufi community of the whirling dervishes. In 1986, Weiss converted to Islam and settled in Aleppo. There he developed a collaboration between him and many singers of classical music from Iraq and Syria, such as Adib Dayikh and the Tunisian singer and musician Lotfi Bouchnak.[5]
Musical style
Accompanied by loud and longer devotional chanting, the group uses multiple instruments such as oud, spike fiddle, flute, percussion and zither to create a melodious symphony.[6] The music is often accompanied by whirling dervishes during their concerts such as Sahin Nasir from Istanbul, Maher and Hatem Al Jamal from Damascus, and Yahyah Hamami and Yousef Shreymo from Aleppo.[7][8]
