A Michigan-based orchestra with a mission of reviving Arab music is tuning up for its annual gala concert.
The National Arab Orchestra holds its event March 18 at the Regency Manor Banquet Center in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. It features the NAO Takht Ensemble with vocalists.
The group was launched in 2009 as a takht, or small chamber music group. It has grown to become a full orchestra and nonprofit entity composed of Arab and non-Arab musicians.
Founder and director Michael Ibrahim says he "was able to find myself as an Arab American" through the culture's music. He adds that the orchestra aims to promote what he considers "a fading art in its traditional form."
