World Music Fest: Nuriya

KFAR Jewish Arts Center & Chicago World Music Festival present:

Nuriya - Born in Mexico City to Jews who fled their countries, Iraq and Syria due to religious persecution, Nuriya’s most formative years were abundant with music from the Middle East, Mexico, Caribbean, Spain and Europe.

Her elders made their mark with their perpetual playing of old Arabic records and singing of Pismonim (prayers sung to melodies of secular music) at family gatherings. Her homes embraced a vivacious way of life where the Middle-East and the Latin culture became effortlessly intertwined. Even the foods she still enjoys reflect those mixes: ‘shawarma con salsa’ and ‘tacos con tahini.’

Nuriya's nomadic curiosity took her to Cuba to study folkloric music and dance with the Muñequitos of Mantanzas. In Israel she studied ancient Hebrew and Arabic melodies with Iraqi master Yair Dalal. She toured Europe as co-composer and singer of Babylon Circus. Her enchantment with the melismatic arabesques of Oum Kalthoum and Agustin Lara and the music of her Sephardic and Mizrahi ancestors are clear in her own performances. With Gerard Edery Ensemble.

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