Zainab Afailal at Transcendence: A Sufi Music Festival via The Smithsonian (Live Stream)

Transcendence: A Sufi Music Festival via The Smithsonian (Live Stream)
Oct. 7, 12PM EDT. Free. Via Zoom Webinar

You might expect Andalusian music to be found in Spain, but in fact the old Andalusian orchestral tradition is largely found in North Africa, where the Jews and the Moors both went after they were expelled from Spain in 1492. Zainab Afailal is a Moroccan singer who specializes in the Arab-Andalousian traditional music. But she also sings the Sufi-inspired songs of 12^th century Spain – a style normally reserved only for men. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, at noon, Zainab Afailal performs Sufi songs of southern Spain and Morocco as part of The Smithsonian’s free virtual festival - Transcendence: A Virtual Sufi Music Festival. It’s free but registration is required.

More: Zainab Afailal will perform in the refined styles of Sufi devotional music that are based on two forms of Arabic poetry—the muwashah and the Zajal—which developed in eleventh- and twelfth-century Spain.  Born and raised in Tetouan, Afaillal is one of the most celebrated female singers to perform in this mode, which for generations was believed to be an exclusively male domain. Her performance will be followed by a talk with Dr. Scott Kugle, professor of South Asian and Islamic Studies at Emory University.