The New York Arabic Orchestra is the home of contemporary and classical Arabic music in America.
The orchestra, based in the New York metropolitan area, is an Arabic music institution of performance
and education founded in 2007 by Bassam Saba, a world renowned multi-instrumentalist virtuoso, conductor and teacher of Arabic music
in collaboration with April Centrone, the orchestra's lead percussionist. The orchestra brings together a culturally
diverse group of musicians around a common passion: Arabic Music.
The 35-piece New York Arabic Orchestra presents selections of classical, contemporary and popular Arabic
vocal music of Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. The NYAO has performed at prestigious venues such as
Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. The orchestra is comprised of ouds (Arabic lutes), nay (Arabic reed flute), the qanun (Arabic zither),
Arabic percussion, strings, woodwinds and chorus, and features the orchestra’s principal vocalists,
Salma Habib and Naji Youssef.
