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05 December 2019

Thirteen women, nine different countries, a unique sound. It is ALMAR'À, the first orchestra of Arab and Mediterranean women in Italy. A word that means "woman with dignity" and a project that comes from the need to overcome the stereotypes linked to the Arab world. Musicians of all ages, professional and otherwise, traditional and modern singers; sounds that start from the Arabic music, go through the classical one and enter the territories of jazz; eastern and western instruments together. Everything in ALMAR'À is a hymn to the beauty of diversity. A musical rainbow born from social integration, a delicate feminine polyphony that becomes a cultural wonder.

"Rim Almar'à" is the video of their first single. The arrangement is signed by Ziad Trabelsi, Mario Tronco, Pino Pecorelli, Leandro Piccioni, accompanied by the video made by Francesco Cabras, thanks to the contribution of the Culture and Art Foundation. The title means "Young woman", and it is the promise of love to a man who is leaving, perhaps forever. A piece that belongs to the Tunisian Arab tradition and maintains its language, but which is reworked both in the text and in the arrangements until it acquires a unique sound, which combines the strength of the Arab melodic line with Western harmonization.
Overcoming geographical boundaries and musical frontiers, in the single the classical violin by Dania Alkabir Alhasani (Syria), former member of the Syrian National Orchestra and the Syrian Philharmonic Orchestra, approaches the kanun of the young Dima Dawood, born in Damascus and now based in Berlin ; the jazz double bass by Derya Davulcu (Turkey) plays with the darbouka of Sana Ben Hamza (Tunisia); the cello by Eszter Nagypal (Hungary) - a highly experienced musician working for years with Ennio Morricone and Nicola Piovani - accompanies Valentina Bellanova's (nay) flute nay, an instrument of the Arab tradition played by an Italian woman, currently transplanted into Germany and professor at the Berlin Turkish Conservatory of Music (BTMK) and at the Global Music Academy in Berlin. The plan is in the wise hands of Sade Mangiaracina (Italy / Tunisia), among the "ten protagonists of the Italian jazz of the future" for the US magazine GQ, and an exceptional fan like Paolo Fresu, who produced his latest album; the percussions belong to the energy of Vera Petra (Italy); the transverse flute is by Silvia La Rocca (Eritrea / Ethiopia), studies at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music and a ten-year career in the concert world. In the choir, the experience of Kavinya Monthe Ndumbu (Kenya) and Yasemin Sannino (Turkey) - voice of "The Ignorant Fairies" by Ferzan Özpetek and collaborations with major composers of Italian and foreign soundtracks - merges with Hana's passion Hachana (Tunisia), 24 years old and a beautician profession; and Nadia Emam (Italy / Egypt), who grew up in Tuscany but decided not to abandon her origins.

Different origins, often united by an Italian nationality, a second generation that looks to the future with the desire to rediscover its own traditions. An opportunity to photograph Italy that exists but still remains hidden in individual experiences, lacking a collective and complex story. In the video you never see the faces of the thirteen musicians, but stylized silhouettes flooded from time to time with waterfalls, flowers, sandstorms and fluid landscapes. A choice that wants to enhance the different profiles and at the same time highlight the common symmetries of the artists. Because ALMAR'À is indeed a heterogeneous whole, but above all a cohesive artistic project.

The orchestra was born in 2017 between Florence and Rome thanks to the collaboration between Fondazione Fabbrica Europa and the Tunisian socio-cultural center "Dar Tounsi", and with the artistic coordination of Ziad Trabelsi from the Piazza Vittorio Orchestra. He had the support of MiBACT through MigrArti and the support of the Pianoterra Foundation. Francesco Cabras, director of the video "Rim Almar'à", has realized - alone or in co-direction with Alberto Molinari - video clips for Vasco Brondi, Sergio Cammariere, Nada, Caparezza, Max Gazzè and many others.