Arabic Music Retreat

08/12/2026

The 30th annual Retreat participants, faculty and staff. Thanks Hanna Madbak for the camera and photo setup.

08/12/2026

We are marking the 30th annual Arabic Music Retreat. Thanks to Habib Khoury for this clip. He designed the iconic Retreat logo. Technically it's the 30th 'annual' Retreat which is how we always count the years here.

05/07/2026

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

Join the web’s most supportive community of creators and get high-quality tools for hosting, sharing, and streaming videos in gorgeous HD with no ads.

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