Ramy Essam.
One of the Egyptian rockers who came to fame in Tahrir Square during Egypt’s 2011 revolution, Ramy Essam performed an intimate house concert in Los Angeles at the Levantine Cultural Center with three songs, including his hit “Irhal!” or “Leave!”, a call to the country’s dictator to step down. This video is the first of three on YouTube.
Sahba Motallebi & Sholeh Wolpé
The Levantine Cultural Center presented this memorable Persian duo in which Iranian-American poet Sholeh Wolpe and renowned tar player Sahba Motallebi performed in Los Angeles, in an evening of original music with poems from Walt Whtiman, Tahirih, Forugh Farrokhzad and Sham Langroodi, in English and Persian, translated by Sholeh Wolpe as well as Wolpe’s own poetry.