Emel Mathlouthi to Perform at the Aga Khan Museum
Friday, August 30, 2019
Toronto: August 30, 2019 – The Canadian Arab Institute (CAI) is thrilled to co-host Tunisian born, New York-based singer, songwriter and composer Emel Mathlouthi with the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, as part of her international tour, to launch her third full-length Album titled: Everywhere We Looked Was Burning. The event will be held on September 30th, 2019 at 8:00pm.
Known as the voice of the Tunisian Revolution, Emel gained major international attention when her awe-inspiring song “Kelmti Horra” (My Word is Free) was adopted by the Arab Spring revolutionaries and soon became an anthem throughout the region, in particular among young people yearning for change, and generated millions of views throughout the 2011 Tunisian Revolution. In 2015, she performed “Kelmti Horra” in Oslo at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, where Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet was given the award.
Her music and her message have garnered praise from critics, fans and the media worldwide, with National Public Radio in the US referring to her as “The 21st Century’s Catalyst for Change,” and with music outlets such as billboard and pitchfork praising her innovative and ground breaking music.
With a unique, haunting and agonizingly beautiful voice, combined with her intriguing modernization of Arabic music and performances, Emel has performed across North America and around the world including in Canada, the UK, France, the Tunisia’s Carthage Festival, the Beit Eddine Festival in Lebanon, the SummerStage festival in Central Park, New York City and in groundbreaking concerts in Egypt and Iraq.
Most recently, she received a Special Recognition Award from the Arab American Institute (AAI) at the 2019 Gibran Khalil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Gala in Washington DC, where she stunned attendees with her performance of “Kelmti Horra” and “Naci en Palestina” (Born in Palestine).
Emel’s new English-language album Everywhere We Looked Was Burning is a call to connect in the face of dark times, and captures her unique artistic vocal and musical talents.
Presented in collaboration with Collective Concerts, this show is also part of the Aga Khan Museum’s 2019/20 Performing Arts season, Listening to Each Other, which pays tribute to the role of the performing arts in connecting communities, preserving culture, and spurring social change.
CAI is proud to be a community partner of this event, to showcase the importance of connecting with each other and building global citizenship through music that embodies the values of peace, justice and a commitment to uplifting others.
Tickets for Emel Mathlouthi’s performance on September 30, 2019 at the Aga Khan Museum are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.agakhanmuseum.org/programs/emel-mathlouthi-album-release-concert.
We hope to see you there!