Production Details

Nile Vibes: Ancient Roots, Modern Grooves
Dive into the enchanting world of Egyptian instrumental music with Music in-Takht, the Bay Area’s premier Egyptian heritage ensemble!Journey through the sounds of Egyptian classical music to modern contemporary Egyptian grooves in a night of mesmerizing melodies. Bonus: YOU become part of the show! Sing along with the band during an interactive segment—lyrics are ready for you at Music in-Takht's webpage. Whether you're a culture lover or just craving unique vibes, this concert is your ticket to an unforgettable experience of Egypt’s rich musical tapestry—past, and present. Come catch the vibes!

انغمسوا في عالم الموسيقى الآلية المصرية الساحرة مع ميوزيك إن تاكت!
انطلقوا في رحلة عبر أنغام الموسيقى المصرية الكلاسيكية وصولاً إلى الإيقاعات المصرية الحديثة في ليلة من الألحان الآسرة. والمفاجأة؟ أنتم جزء من العرض! شاركوا بالغناء مع الفرقة في نهاية العرض في فقرة تفاعلية مميزة. سواء كنت عاشقًا للثقافة أو تبحث عن أجواء فريدة، هذا الحفل هو بوابتك إلى تجربة لا تُنسى تجسد غنى الموسيقى المصرية بماضيها وحاضرها.

Music in-Takht
Founded by Egyptian violinist Basma Edrees, Music in-Takht is an instrumental ensemble dedicated to sharing and preserving Egyptian musical heritage within the San Francisco Bay Area. The ensemble’s name, Music in-Takht, is a playful homophone that carries deep meaning. While it sounds like “Music intact," symbolizing the preservation of music at its finest, it's actually inspired by the word takht—the traditional ensemble of classical instrumentalists in Egypt and across the Arab speaking world. The ensemble members are devoted musicians who value the mission of this ensemble and with humility, hard work and confidence in their abilities they take on the responsibility of being amongst the “Keepers” of Egyptian musical culture within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Basma Edrees
Basma Edrees is a violinist, performer, and educator based in the SF Bay Area. She is the founder of Music in-Takht. Passionate about introducing the world to the rich music of her native country, Egypt, Edrees has given Arabic music workshops at UC Berkeley and Stanford. Basma has also taught Arabic music, Modal and Tonal counterpoint at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is currently on the violin faculty of Santa Clara University's department of Music. A graduate of Mannes School of Music and The Juilliard School in New York, Edrees also enjoys a career playing and teaching European classical music as well as Argentinian Tango music; the latter of which she learned under the tutelage of Guillermo Rubino; Head of strings at the prestigious Orquesta Escuela Emilio Balcarce in Buenos Aires.

Matthew Wright
Dr. Matthew Wright is a computer music researcher, composer/improviser/performer, father of an energetic 7-year-old, and the Executive Director of Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). His research includes modeling the perception of musical rhythm as well as musical creation with digital technology in a live performance context. As a musician, he plays a variety of Middle Eastern and Afghan plucked lutes, Afro-Brazilian percussion, and computer-based instruments of his own design, in both traditional music contexts (including as Music Director of the Stanford Middle East Ensemble) and experimental new works (including as co-Director of SLOrk, the Stanford Laptop Orchestra).

Seif Ibrahim
Seif Ibrahim is an Egyptian-American Nay player whose musical journey began with studying classical Western flute and piano as a child. His focus shifted to Arabic music in 2019 after a chance introduction to Professor Scott Marcus, with whom he studied Nay, Maqam theory, and performed in the UCSB Middle East Ensemble. Seif continues to study with prominent Nay performers Mohammed Fityan and Hani Elbadry from Syria and Egypt, while also performing around the Bay Area. He balances his passion for music with a career as a Software Engineer.

Mohamed Abdelradi
Mohamed Abdelradi began teaching himself to play Doumbek when he was about 6 years old. At 19, he began playing percussion in an ensemble that performed American and international music in Egypt. Soon after, he began performing and recording with critically acclaimed composers, singers, and musicians including Hamid El Shaery, Ehab Tawfik, Mahmoud Ellithy as well as Mohamed Mounir, who pioneered the introduction of Nubian music into the musical language of Egypt as a whole. His family being from the beautiful city of Aswan in the South of Egypt, Radi possesses a unique knowledge of the Egyptian Nubian rhythms used in the south. In 1995, he moved to the United States, where he has continued his music career and a career as a National Soccer Referee.

Ernesto Mazar Kindelan
Ernesto Mazar Kindelan is a Grammy Nominated Jazz Bassist, Father of three, and a teacher. He was born and raised in Santiago de Cuba where he studied and later taught at Escuela Nacional de Arte before moving to the United States to begin his career as a US-based artist and teacher. While raising his young family he continues to play with top artists in the Jazz, Funk, and Latin music communities. An interesting fact about Ernesto is that his grandfather immigrated to Cuba from Iraq!

Daniel Filip
Daniel Filip is a seasoned South Bay Area pianist and composer. He was born and raised in Detroit where he was exposed to the local jazz icons from an early age and supported himself through college playing the local rock clubs as well as Motown and R&B in the casuals circuit. After moving to the Bay Area, he became immersed in the Latin music scene which eventually led to living in Cuba for several months and gave him the opportunity to study with some of the great masters such Pupy Pedroso and Chucho Valdez. He went on to perform for more than a decade with the salsa fusion band Orquesta Gitano (including playing on the Salsa Gitana Grammy nominated album) and several other Cuban jazz projects. He is currently a member of post bop band The Sun Messengers and the Latin jazz band Sofrito.

Loay Dahbour
Loay Dahbour is a Palestinian artist, percussionist and videographer of short documentary films specializing in Arab hand drums. Born and raised in Kuwait, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1992. Since 2007, he has been the lead percussionist and instructor for the Aswat Ensemble, performing on the doumbek, riq, and daf. He led San Francisco’s Sababa Band (2009–2011), blending jazz and Middle Eastern music, and toured with the Georges Lammam Ensemble, muwashahat singer Noor Mhanna and Hanoonah Palestinian Folk Band, one of the oldest and most prominent folk dance bands in the world. Loay has introduced both adults and youth to Middle Eastern music in both private and group lessons teaching the doumbek, riq, and daf through Zawaya and the UC Berkeley. In 2015 he recorded educational music tracks in the form of lullabies and folksongs for children. Loay has taught at Zawaya and UC Berkeley and recorded children’s educational music. He trained at the Middle Eastern Music Institute in Kuwait, as well as under the tutelage of Egyptian percussionists Mohsen Al Sawaf of the Maseyya band in Egypt, and Reda Darwish of the Hani Mhanna Band in San Francisco.