Palestine Museum US will present Fantasia on Mourid Barghouti’s Ramallah - an afternoon of classical music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Georges Bizet/Pablo de Sarasate and Karim Said with words by poet Mourid Barghouti featuring internationally acclaimed Palestinian musicians Karim Said (piano) and Hisham Khoury (violin). The event will also include photographic images of Ramallah by Diane Mogannam Straetker and exhibition of artwork by Ramallah artists.

Karim Said and Hisham Khoury view the classical concert as a platform for musicians to contemplate a particular (and often non-musical) theme, alongside the celebration of works by the great masters of the classical tradition. In Fantasia on Mourid Barghouti's Ramallah, Karim Said’s own composition with Arabic and English texts from ‘I Saw Ramallah’ by the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti highlight the suffering inflicted on the Palestinian people through decades of war and subsequent exile. As Avi Shlaim puts it in his Guardian review; Barghouti’s book ‘dwells not on politics but on the less familiar aspects of the Palestinian predicament’ in ‘an intensely lyrical account of the poet's return to his hometown on the West Bank from protracted exile abroad.’

The Musicians

Karim Said:

‘He shares Sviatoslav Richter’s incisively effortless octave technique and knack for gradually meting out rubato in the manner of a seasoned conductor’ – Gramophone Magazine

Hailed as a ‘born communicator’ by the Independent, Karim Said came to the public’s attention in 2009 playing concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra under the late Sir Colin Davis (Barbican Centre, London - UK) and at the BBC Proms with Daniel Barenboim and the West Eastern Divan Orchestra. Karim’s latest solo album ‘Legacy’ was released on Rubicon Classics (UK) in November 2018. It received 5 Stars for interpretation and repertoire on West German Radio (WDR) and was described by Nicholas Kenyon in the Guardian/Observer as a programme ‘dispatched with intelligence and grace.’. Karim’s passion for early and modern music has earned him a reputation for stimulating programming, which led to a debut at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) in June.

Hisham Khoury:

Violinist Hisham Khoury has performed as soloist and chamber musician in concerts and festivals around the world. Hisham has performed with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, The Haifa Symphony Orchestra, the Buchmann-Mehta Symphony Orchestra, the West Eastern Divan Orchestra and Palestinian National Orchestra. Hisham has played recitals in France, Palestine, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and United States with well-known artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Guy Braunstein , Kian Soltani, and others. He has played in prestigious halls such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, RAH London, Carnegie NY, Berlin Philharmonie and many more. Hisham also participated in numerous festivals, among them are the Young Artists Program at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Beethoven Festival, Jerusalem Chamber music festival, Perlman Music Program, Keshet Eilon Mastercourse, and has taken part in masterclasses with Ida Heandel, Ivery Gitlis, Pinchas Zukerman, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Zakhar Bron and Miriam Fried.