Zawaya

Zawaya is a performing arts organization dedicated to preserving, promoting, and presenting Arab American cultural heritage through music and art. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Zawaya is the largest Arabic musical ensemble in the United States. The organization creates connections across cultures through the development of and performances by its 37-member ensemble of Arab and non-Arab musicians and singers. It also supports a youth ensemble that provides instruction in classical Arabic instruments and vocals to children age six to 18, and works with partner organizations to produce concerts featuring both ensembles. Support for Zawaya advances the Performing Arts Program’s Communities strategy.

Zawaya is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and presenting Arab American cultural heritage through music and art, and is a leading Arabic performing arts organization in the Bay Area. It strives to create bridges of understanding through its art. Its two main performing programs are ASWAT, a forty-five-member community music group of Arab and non-Arab musicians and singers (the largest Arab musical ensemble in the United States), and ASWAT Youth, offering instruction in classical Arabic instruments and vocals to young people ages six to eighteen. Zawaya reaches 2,000 people at one to two major concerts per year and between eight and ten public performances at such diverse venues as The Center for Peace & Compassion in Fairfax, California; San Francisco’s de Young Museum; and private homes. Renewed support would help the organization launch two programs to meet the needs of the community: a music program for toddlers in Silicon Valley and a Muslim Music Ensemble to help alter negative perceptions of Muslims through music.