Arabic Music Retreat

05/07/2026

Right now the livestream of Simon Shaheen's Student Ensemble at Berklee, Satellite of Qantara, is up.

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05/05/2026

This Thursday evening, Simon Shaheen's student ensembles at Berklee College of Music will perform in Boston. Free admission. May 7th, 7:30 pm. 921 Boylston St, Boston. Both Qantara Berklee and the Near East Music Ensembles will perform. Livestream will be available at this link. https://vimeo.com/showcase/dfrh?share=copy&fl=sc&fe=fs

03/22/2026

Arabic Percussion enthusiasts - study at the 2026 Arabic Music Retreat with our amazing percussion faculty! Tareq Rantisi Karim Nagi https://arabicmusicretreat.org

03/22/2026

Registration for the 2026 Arabic Music Retreat is OPEN! https://arabicmusicretreat.org Simon Shaheen سيمون شاهين Naseem Alatrash Ghada Ghanem Wanees Zarour Abboud Kayyaliونيس زعرور Tareq RantisiKarim Nagi Rami Abuolaya

03/17/2026

Faculty concert for Arabic Music Retreat in France. Thursday June 4, 8 pm in Angers.

10/03/2025

Updated "Save the Dates"

The 30th Annual Arabic Music Retreat
August 8 - 15, 2026 will take place at Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA USA https://arabicmusicretreat.org Registration will open in the spring!

What's new? The Arabic Music Retreat France - May 30 - June 6, 2026 in Angers, France

Simon Shaheen is delighted to be working with the al-Kamandjati Association to present the first annual Arabic Music Retreat in France, modeled on the Retreat in the U.S. (Note: This is in addition to the Retreat that will take place at Mount Holyoke College in the US in August).

The Arabic Music Retreat France will be held in the historic city of Angers, at a monastery that has been converted into a community and training/event center, known as Tiers-lieu de l'Esviere. The Retreat in France will be limited to 40 participants. Registration will open soon

If you would like to be on the email list for the Arabic Music Retreat France please email: [email protected]

09/26/2025

Save the dates for the 30th Annual Arabic Music Retreat
August 8 - 15, 2026
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA USA
https://arabicmusicretreat.org
Registration will open in the spring!
To join our email list, contact: [email protected]

2025 Arabic Music Retreat Recap August 22, 2025August 22, 2025 The 29th annual Retreat is now ‘in the books’. It was a record year for attendance. Everyone brought a strong spirit of cooperation, and the group had a high level of musicianship. The faculty concert was dedicated to the memory Read...

09/03/2025

Simon Shaheen dedicating the 2025 Retreat faculty concert to the late Bob Davis, a stalwart pillar of the Retreat who participated for many years and took on the important role of documentarian, filming the classes, open mics, and concerts at more than 20 Retreats. He passed away in July, and members of his family attended the faculty concert. This video by Susan Davis is of Simon Shaheen's remarks about Bob. It was an honor that Bob's family attended the concert.

Arabic Music Retreat recital dedicated to Bob Davis

08/21/2025

The 29th Arabic Music Retreat wrapped up on Saturday. We are grateful for not only a full event, but also for the cooperative spirit of the participants and their high level of musicianship. Thanks to all who participated and those who attended the concert. As always we are indebted to the generosity and enthusiasm of our executive director Simon Shaheen سيمون شاهين. Mere thanks are not enough to express our appreciation and gratitude for his committed leadership through the years. We salute the talents of our faculty members Najib Shaheen, Ghada Ghanem, Layth Sidiq, Dr Issa Boulos, Abboud Kayyali, Wanees Zarour, Naseem Alatrash, Firas Zreik, Rami Abu Olaya, Dr. Iman Roushdy, Tareq Rantisi, and Karim Nagi. Special thanks to staff member Patricia C. Auch. We look forward to next year and will post info on that as soon as we know the dates. - K Campbell, Admin Director

04/25/2025

Registration is now open for the 2025 Arabic Music Retreat - happening August 9-16 at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA USA. You can register online, pay your deposit, check out our incredible master faculty, and study the program at our website: https://arabicmusicretreat.org
Hope you can join us for a fantastic week of music-making!