Join us for this demonstration and Q&A with the sufi musician Ali Keeler, who will introduce us to the sonic world of Qur’anic recitation and the call to prayer. Drawing on his rich experience and training in Syria as a singer and expert in Qur’anic recitation, Ali will give an in-depth insight into the art and practice of the muezzin. Ali will also tell us about his spiritual and musical journey from the UK, to Syria, to his adopted home in Granada.  

Biography

Ali Keeler was born in London in 1973 and started learning the violin at the age of seven. During his youth, he played in several orchestras. In 1991, he went on to study classical violin at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he gained experience playing in a string quartet. He moved to Damascus in Syria in 1998. During his time in Syria, he learnt to sing within the tradition of the maqam in the zawiyas of Damascus and Aleppo, receiving instruction in singing from the well-known munshid Ustadh Mustapha Karim. Applying his musical experience within the Arabic tradition to the violin, he has developed a varied repertoire of Celtic, Arabic, Andalusi and Turkish pieces. He moved to Granada in 2006 where he met other sufi musicians and helped form the group Al Kauthar in 2007 recording with them the album Ruh.  In 2012 he founded Al Firdaus Ensemble with musicians from Spain, Morocco and Venezuela. They have toured extensively in Europe, North America, North Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. They have recorded three albums: Safa, Nour and Shifa.

For more information about Ali and his fusion group, Al Firdaus Ensemble, see: http://alfirdaus-ensemble.es/en/al-firdaus-ensemble/