During this ArtBreak, presented in collaboration with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Beau Bothwell will offer an overview of Middle Eastern music and a glimpse into the performance of Middle Eastern music in Kalamazoo. 

Bothwell is Associate Professor of Music at Kalamazoo College, where he teaches courses in ethnomusicology, music theory, and music history. He received his PhD in musicology from Columbia University, focusing on music and radio in Syria and Lebanon. He also holds BAs in Ethnomusicology and Music History from UCLA, where he began studying oud in the Near East Ensemble under Ali Jihad Racy. Bothwell has taught at Columbia, the Juilliard School, the American University in Beirut, and the New School. He has published on various topics related to music in the U.S. and the Arabophone Middle East. Bothwell is currently president of the Michigan Festival of Sacred Music, which presents the Connecting Chords Music Festival every year, and is past chair of the Society for Arab Music Research.