Hard to believe it was nearly 20 years ago that I was captured by a pair of images on a poster in the West Bank town of Ramallah that embodied so much of the hope and heartbreak of the Palestinian quest for freedom. One showed an 8-year-old boy from a refugee camp hurling a stone at an unseen Israeli soldier. The other showed the same child, 10 years later, pulling a bow across the strings of his viola.
These were the images that would lead me to write the remarkable story of Ramzi Aburedwan in my award-winning book, Children of the Stone, which tells the story of Ramzi's dream to build a music school for children living under military occupation.
This connection now brings Ramzi and his fantastic Dal Ouna Arab/French fusion ensemble to the U.S. for a national the Children of the Stone /Dal'ouna musical/literary tour. We hope you'll join us for one of our concerts.
The U.S. National CHILDREN OF THE STONE/DAL’OUNA concert and book tour, September 15 - 25, 2016, celebrates Palestinian musician and educator Ramzi Aburedwan and his belief in the power of music and culture to transform lives and resist oppression.
Back by popular demand, the 2016-2017 tour corresponds with the paperback release of Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land (Bloomsbury, April 2015/paperback 2016) by Sandy Tolan, author of the international bestseller, The Lemon Tree.
TOUR DATES and LOCATIONS (list subject to change):
*denotes concert only
September 15 Le Poisson Rouge, New York City
September 16 @ 3:30pm William Patterson University, New Jersey (afternoon concert + discussion)
September 16 @ 8pm Clifton High School Auditorium, 333 Colfax Ave, Clifton, NJ*
September 17 @ 7pm Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, New York*
September 18 @ 11am Brunch mini-concert*, East Hampton; evening, Worcester, Massachusetts*
September 19 @ 730pm Follen Church, 755 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, Massachusetts*
September 20 @ 1230pm Tilton Hall, Clark University (950 Main Street Worcester, MA 01610)*
September 20 @ 7pm Alden Hall, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd, Worcester, Massachusetts*
September 21 @ 8pm Mahaney Arts Center, Middlebury College, 72 Porter Field Rd, Middlebury, Vermont
September 23 @ 8pm Ramallah American Club, 3130 Parental Home Rd, Jacksonville, Florida*
September 24 @ 8pm Dwight Hall Chapel, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut FREE
September 25 @ 4:30pm St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 310 Route 137, Harwich, Massachusetts* Get tickets here.
September 26 @ 7pm University of Connecticut, 2110 Hillside Rd, Storrs, Connecticut* FREE
*Ramzi & his ensemble will continue touring Sept. 27 - Oct. 2
Additional concert dates and venues will be announced soon. Please click here to donate now. Contributions are tax-deductible, through the non-profit Homelands Research Group, a production company I co-founded with public radio journalists in 1991. Thank you for your generosity.