In the upcoming few months the Palestinian Eurovision Partners are planning to launch the National Song Contest and the efforts and support of the donor community is greatly needed. A proposal for the National Song Contest entailing all the technical and financial requirements is being drafted. This is hoped to be funded through a consortium of donors who are interested in the idea and willing to contribute. With that objective in mind, the partners to the Palestinian Eurovision Initiative invited the donor community in Palestine to a meeting that was held on the 23rd of November at the grand park hotel in Ramallah. The purpose of the meeting was to inform them about the initiative, and to explore their opinion or general perception on the idea and possible means of support. Dr. Fadia Daibes spokesperson on the initiative presented the project, its objectives and achievements so far. Furthermore, there was an emphasis on the objectives and the technical and financial needs of the Local Song Contest. A general positive feedback was received. Most of the attendants expressed their interest in the national song contest and requested for further follow up and updating by the Palestinian Eurovision Partners. _____________________________________________________ Piyalara Musical "Sho 3am Biseer" musical arrangement by Said Murad. Al Ayyam newspaper 23 August 07 News & Articles _____________________________________________________ Sabreen in cooperation with Rikskonsertene is organizing a three-day workshop for school concerts production led by Norwegian producer Ketil Hustad. The training will be held at Sabreen facilities in Bethlehem from 18/6 - 20/6; the training will target 10 local Palestinian musicians. _______________________________________________________ With the support of Sabreen, Dar al Nadwa Bethlehem will be hosting Wissam Murad to perform live on June 23rd at 7:00 pm where Murad will perform songs from his last CD Min Baad. _______________________________________________________ Press Conference & Lounge Party Palestinian Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation has applied for active membership in the European Broadcasting Union to allow possible participation in the 2008 Eurovision song contest. The motivation behind this initiative is a genuine wish to contribute to the Eurovision tradition of creating positive cultural experience and to build a media infrastructure in Palestine. Join the press conference and following lounge party with representatives from Palestine - music, drinks & snacks and other surprises. Friday, May 11, 5 pm Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art Mannerheiminaukio 2 _______________________________________________________ Palestinian Eurovision project update: Palestinian Eurovision Partners- Sabreen Association for Artistic Development, the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation PBC, and Superflex Artist Group from Denmark, Participate in the European Broadcasting Union- EBU 13th Television Assembly as well as in the Common Focus Plenary that will take place from 2-3 of May in Lucerne Switzerland. Mr. Bassem Abusumaya, Chairman of the PBC, Dr. Fadia Daibas, Spokesperson, and Mr. Rasmus Nielson, Consultant to the Project will be attending this event after which they will meet with officials from the EBU to discuss PBCs membership to the EBU and to lobby for Palestines participation in the 2008 Eurovision song contest. _______________________________________________________ The Irish film Festival from April 26 to May 4, 2007 Sabreen in collaboration with the Irish One eye-production and the Irish representative office in Ramallah launched The Irish film Festival on April 26, 2007. The program will host Irish directors and technicians to oversee and train approximately 80 young men and young Palestinian woman working in the field of films and techniques where emphasis will be on the concepts and methods in the Animation, use of digital cameras and the introduction of light. Training workshops will be implemented in cooperation with local technical institutions in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. On May 4, 2007 will be the final presentation of the project, offering rich films, which were prepared during the workshops. ______________________________________________________ The XIII Biennale Alex 2007 has been moved of 30 days, to the period 25th November/4th December 2007; by consequence the deadline of the contest has been moved to 15th April 2007 CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS The XIII Edition of the Biennale 2007 in Alexandria, invites young artists from Europe and the Mediterranean to participate and present their works in the fields of: - Visual Arts (Plastic Arts, Photography, Installation, Performance, Video Art, Comic Strip, Cyber Art, Public Art) - Applied Arts (Architecture, Visual/ Industrial/ Web design, Fashion, Digital Creations) - Show (Theatre, Dance, Urban Acts) - Literature (Writing, Poetry) - Music (Rock, Pop, Jazz, Folk/ Ethno, Contemporary, Digital, Dj's) - Gastronomy - Images on the Move (Film, Video, Animated Films) The theme of the Biennial is Our Creative Diversity" If you are interested to participate, please send your art material the latest March 20, 2007 to Sabreen Association for Artistic Development. Sabreen Association for Artistic Development in partnership with BJCEM _______________________________________________________ Sabreen in cooperation with the UNESCO Hiroshima city project for supporting music infrastructure in deprived countries, are implementing a joint project to enhance music teaching and music activities in Palestine. The project includes 2 components: 1- Purchasing of around 70 instruments (percussion, strings) for private and governmental schools and music centers which will be delivered to various cities, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Hebron, Tulkarem and Bethlehem through the Ministry of Education and Latin Patriarchate administration schools. 2- Sponsoring 10 school concerts for schools that had never experienced watching live music concerts. _______________________________________________________ SABREEN took part in an art exhibition organized by the UNDP on the 30th of November, 2006 at the Ambassador hotel in Jerusalem. Displayed a collection of art pieces and traditional glass work prepared by the artist Yousef Rajabi at Sabreens own workshop which is part of Sabreens Community Development Program - the Arts and Handicrafts Project - to promote and preserve Palestinian Heritage. ______________________________________________________ SABREEN TOURING CANADA Sabreen Musical Group will be touring Canada performing a series of concerts in four major Canadian cities between the 16th and 25th of November. A collection of selected songs will be performed by the groups lead singer Wissam Murad in a addition to songs from his latest CD Min Baad. This tour is organized by MAP (Medical Aid for Palestine) and SPHR (solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights) as part of a fund-raising effort in support of the Palestinian people. The tour schedule will be as follows: Thursday November 16: Montreal at Concordia U, Oscar Peterson Hall Saturday November 18: Ottawa at Carleton U, Alumni Hall Thursday November 23: London Saturday November 25: Toronto at York U, Burton Auditorium. ______________________________________________________ Sabreen and Rikskonsertene (the Norwegian concert institute) are organizing a school concert tour in Norway for BIDAYAT concert, a production that presents oriental music using Durbakah and Oud in addition to Norwegian music". Bidayat had a previous tour in November 2005, and have been evaluated by Rikskonsertene and the School's parents committee to be the best and most successful concert for the year and have recommended repeating the tour in other parts of Norway for the year 2006-2007. The tour will be during October 2006 and will be covering 11 schools in the area of Lillehammer. This tour is part of Sabreen's educational program that is implemented in cooperation with Rikskonsertene-Norway and the Palestinian Ministry of Education. Bidayat combines Wassim Issa and Doreen Munayyer from Palestine and Harald Skullrad from Norway. "