Brussels: The prestigious Henry Le Boeuf Hall in Brussels resonated on Saturday evening with the rhythms of Arab-Andalusian music and the art of samaa during a memorable performance that highlighted the richness of Morocco’s musical traditions.
According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, the “Grand Concert of Tarab,” organized by the Takasim Association in collaboration with the Embassy of Morocco in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the King Baudouin Foundation, brought together two great masters: Mohamed Briouel, a leading figure of Arab-Andalusian music, and Ali Al-Rebbahi, the transcendent voice of Sufi singing. Before a large audience, notably members of the Moroccan community in Belgium, the two masters blended their musical worlds in a dialogue of rare intensity, supported by some twenty musicians and singers performing in perfect harmony.
The first part of the concert was devoted to a tribute to the late Moroccan musician and oud master Sad Chrabi, marking the 10th anniversary of his passing. Major works from his rich repertoire were brilliantly performed by Omar Lazrak on the oud and Mohamed-Amine El Korchi on the qanoun, accompanied in particular by Karim Slaoui Al Andaloussi on acoustic bass and Ahmed Khaili on percussion. The audience, including many discerning music lovers well-versed in the Arab-Andalusian tradition and Moroccan spiritual music, entered into deep communion with the artists, carried away in a shared momentum toward an authentic musical and spiritual universe, a living intangible heritage of Morocco that has become a vehicle for the promotion of Moroccan culture and dialogue among peoples and cultures.
In his opening address, Morocco’s Ambassador to Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Mohamed Ameur, highlighted the richness of Moroccan Andalusian music, describing it as ‘a music of memory and emotion that has traversed centuries without ever losing its soul.’ He also paid tribute to the memory of Sad Chrabi, ‘one of the greatest oud virtuosos in Morocco and the Arab world, an artist who devoted his life to the service of refined music and the preservation of Arab and Andalusian musical heritage.’
In a statement to MAP, Noureddine El Korchi, president of the Takasim Association, said that this musical event is part of the association’s efforts to preserve and promote this cultural heritage, particularly among the Moroccan diaspora as well as all music enthusiasts in Belgium. For several years, the Brussels-based association has been working to transmit and enhance the value of learned music from around the world, especially Moroccan music, with the aim of creating a space for encounter where music becomes a forum for dialogue between different generations, cultures, and civilizations, he emphasized.
The event took place in the presence, among others, of Morocco’s Ambassador to the European Union, Ahmed Reda Chami, as well as several Moroccan and Belgian figures from the cultural and media spheres.