Yuval Ron Ensemble

As the Middle East remains a region saturated with conflict and hatred The Yuval Ron Ensemble is releasing an unusual CD uniting the sacred music of the three religions of the Middle East. Since their stirring presentation at the World Festival of Sacred Music in LA last September, the ensemble focused on re-creating the live concert experience in the recording studio environment. In this long awaited premier CD the group brings together the sacred musical traditions of Judaism, Sufism (Islamic mystical tradition) and the Christian Armenian Church into an extraordinary harmonious world of its own.

A Song of Sufi origin from Turkey is sung both in Arabic and Hebrew, a Jewish prayer from Morocco is introduced by an Armenian chant and a Yemenite Jewish prayer receives a gripping clarinet solo in the best tradition of the Armenian performance style. Arranged by composer and world-music record producer Yuval Ron these tracks are all about emotion and passion. It is soulful mystical music that touches upon the ancient and deep inter-cultural connection the three sacred traditions share.

The multi-ethnic ensemble features the great Middle Eastern singer Najwa Gibran (recently appeared on the soundtrack of Helen of Troy) and Armenian woodwind master Norik Manoukian (featured duduk player on Dead Man Walking soundtrack). The Yuval Ron Ensemble:
Najwa Gibran - voice, Maya Haddi - voice, Norik Manoukian - duduk, zurna, shvi (flute) and clarinet Virginie Alumyan - kanoun, Jamie Papish - percussion, David Martinelli - percussion, Carolyne Aycaguer-Ron - keyboards, Yuval Ron - oud, saz and musical director

Yuval Ron is an international composer and record producer. He has done field recordings in the Sinai desert with the Bedouins and produced the record One Truth of Turkish master musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek on World Class Records. His latest CD ONE on Magda Records features Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Yair dalal, Azam Ali, Pejman Hadadi, Nabil Azzam and Haim Louk. A recipient of multiple grants from National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Composers Forum and the California Council for the Humanities, Yuval has worked with the Moscow Symphony, the LAJS Symphony, and the New Hampshire Philharmonic. In 1998 he released his first solo recording "In Between the Heartbeat" on Simulacra Records, followed by the CD "In the Shallows" in 2001. He produced the double album "Masada - the Musical Saga" staring Davis Gains and provided the ethnic music cues for "Helen of Troy" (US Network). Yuval Ron is the producer & host of the world music concert series "The International Underground" at the UCLA Hammer Museum. He is also a noted lecturer and leader of workshops who taught at numerous schools in the US and abroad, including Berklee College of Music, MIT, UCSD, SCUN, UCSC, Boston Center for the Arts, Santa Monica College, Emerson College, Dean Junior College, Camera obscura and the Sam Spiegel Jerusalem Film School.