Tair, Liron, and Tagel Haim grew up in a small southern Israeli village near the Egyptian border.  The family’s Yemeni Jewish roots — and their love of the Yemenite language, an old and nearly extinct dialect of Arabic spoken by Yemeni Jews — inspired the Haim sisters to develop a new sound that weaves traditional Yemeni music and women’s chanting into a thoroughly modern, riveting electronic groove.  A Facebook encounter with Balkan Beat Box’s Tomer Yosef led to a collaboration that has launched A-Wa on their own meteoric rise.  “We feel like our music is sort of a bridge to connect people from Arab countries and from Israel and from all over the world. They relate to the music, the groove, and the story of liberation,” Tair told Forward.com.

http://www.a-wamusic.com

Friday, September 16: Lotus Friday Evening Showcase
Click for full schedule details!  Schedule subject to change.

Presented in partnership with the IU Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program, Lou and Sybil Mervis Fund in Jewish Cultural Studies and the IU Center for the Study of the Middle East.