Conversations at SAI: At the Intersection of Faith, Culture and Music
AT THE INTERSECTION OF FAITH, CULTURE AND MUSIC...
...is a conversation between Sonny (Artistic Director of Riyaaz Qawwali) and Aaron Cohen (award winning Chicago music writer) exploring the role of faith, spirituality and heritage through musical expression.
Sonny is the Artistic Director of Riyaaz Qawwali, the only Qawwali ensemble in the US. A Qawwalwith over 29 years of classical music training, he has spent half of that time devoted to understanding and growing awareness of qawwali. He grew up learning from his family and went on to receive classical music training.
Aaron Cohen is the author of “Move on Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power”(University of Chicago Press), which looks at the social and musical changes that shaped R&B in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s. Cohen teaches humanities at City Colleges of Chicago and is an award winning music writer. (Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, Washington Post, The Nation, NPR and Chicago Reader.)
