Syrian guitar trio to play Steinbach

Syrian guitar trio, Orontes Guitarists, will play their eclectic mix of classical, Arabic, Middle Eastern, Jazz, and South American musical influences on the Steinbach stage in November.

“People are going to hear a lot of different moods and scales and they’re going to be listening to stuff that are traditional and there’s going to be stuff that are more recent from modern composers,” said co-founding member Meer Mahmoud. “They’re going to be listening to a lot of new different rhythms, at the same time, I’m not going to say it doesn’t exist in Western music but it’s not as popular as it is back (in Syria) so it’s hopefully going to be really interesting to watch and listen.”

The other two founding members performing with Mahmoud will be Gabi Al Botros and Orwa Alsharaa.

Orontes (named after a river that flows between Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey) has its roots in Damascus, Syria, where the members met while in university at the conservatory of music in 2015. They were in Beirut, Lebanon in 2016 when they met classical guitarist Susan McDonald who encouraged the members to form a group and mentored them.

“We studied classical guitar so that’s our foundation. It’s classical music however we have different styles that we tap into. Recently, the project that we’re working on arranging music Arabic and Middle Eastern music to classical guitar sometimes add a little bit of South American music,” said Mahmoud.

In 2017, while trying to leave the turmoil of the Syrian Civil War, the group applied for the Artist Protection Fund, which helps threatened artists continue their work in safe countries, and were stationed in Victoria, British Columbia, which they now call home. Since 2019, they have been touring Canada.

“What we’re going to be doing most of the program is going to be Lebanese, Syrian, Turkish music and it’s going to have a little bit of jazz standards and we’re going to also perform a couple of tangos. We’re going to be preforming new music, but people will also find stuff that they are familiar with a little bit,” said Mahmoud.

Mahmoud said the group wanted to blend the different guitar styles because they want to showcase their heritage with a representation of different cultures. He said it was important to showcase Arabic music.

“Of course it’s very important as an artist. Your background and what you grew up listening to is very important. It’s kind of help building your character as a musician as an artist in general what you grew up seeing. It’s deep in your memory so it’s going to show up when you play, when you paint, when you do any form of art, so it is important to let that go out and share it with the world. Just like when you invite someone to your home, you’re going to try to cook for them whatever your grandma taught you.”

This is the first time that Orontes will play in Steinbach. Mahmoud said the audience can expect some recognizable compositions, but the majority will be new music. He said no matter what the demographics are for listening to the music people will always find something interesting in it.

“Because we are playing a very popular instrument. Everyone knows the guitar everywhere you go the guitar is a popular instrument. But everyone is going to expect different sounds from the instrument.

“If you go to Syria, (and) you play the guitar, people are going to expect a Western sound, but when we play the Arabic music on the guitar back home, they’re going to be looking at the guitar in a different way. Meanwhile, people here will be focusing more on the melodies and the music itself not the instrument so it depends on the background of the people who are listening too, but we hope that everyone finds something interesting out of this.”

Orontes Guitarists will play Grace Mennonite Church on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. To get tickets visit Steinbach Arts Council at steinbacharts.ca or by calling 204-346-1077. Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students.