Passport Series: Brooklyn Nomads

The Brooklyn Nomads is a cross cultural ensemble rooted in music traditions from the Arab World. The ensemble has performed at The Kennedy Center, TED, Joe’s Pub, MIT, Le Poisson Rouge, and others. Interpreting Arab folk music through cultural and musical backgrounds as diverse as Brooklyn itself, the Brooklyn Nomads put a multicultural spin on a traditional Arabic repertoire and bring it to a wide audience around the world. By sharing their innovative interpretations with a broad range of audiences, The Brooklyn Nomads foster cross cultural collaboration and appreciation through the language of music.

The rich ecosystem of NYC permitted this group to come to life: musicians from different continents and distinct backgrounds creating a hybrid of transcendent sounds. 

Musicians:

Hadi Eldebek is the artistic director of The Brooklyn Nomads. As a musician, educator, and cultural entrepreneur Hadi has collaborated with prominent figures and institutions in the arts, culture, and education sectors; including Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, Harvard Graduate School of Education, The Kennedy Center, TED, Disney World Imagineering and others. His TED talk, discussing the importance of funding the arts and artists, has gone viral with over 1.25 million views.

Mohamad Eldebek is a percussionist from Lebanon based in New York City.  He has performed internationally in numerous venues including the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing, Symphony Space, Metropolitan museum of Arts, Shanghai Concert Hall and others. He co-founded The Brooklyn Nomads with his brother Hadi Eldebek, along other creative startups like Circle World Arts, GrantPa, and Step Into. 

Navid Kandeoulsi started to learn violin at six in Tehran, later studying Milan and Moscow. He joined the Iranian National Orchestra in 1999, then worked as concertmaster in Europe and America. As an award-winning musician, he’s performed in various concertos globally and is a member of the Gateway Symphony, International American YPHIL Orchestra and The Brooklyn Nomads. Navid has given solo recitals since 2014, teaches Persian violin and Kamancheh at Juilliard Music School and attended the Silk Road workshop with Yo-Yo Ma.

Mohamed Araki is a Boston-based, internationally touring keyboardist and producer. Araki is the first Sudanese musician to be nominated for a GRAMMY for his work with Nigerien-born guitarist Bombino’s most recent full length, “Deran.” Mohamed has recorded and performed with artists like Yo-Yo Ma, Bombino, Cheb Khaled and Vinnie Colaiuta. 

Andreas Arnold (Germany, 1981) currently lives between NYC and Spain and released several album under his name. When he is not touring internationally with his own group he works with a wide range of artists between flamenco, middle eastern music and jazz as a guitarist, composer and arranger.