The Obsessives - A Gradus Podcast Series

Gradus Lecture Series

Expressions of Cultural Resistance - A Gradus Concert Series

The Obsessives is a podcast hosted by the composer Dina Shilleh, which sheds light on 5 Palestinian women music creators, with concentration on their processes, approaches, backgrounds and the nitty gritty of music creation. This episode Titled "Sonic Embrace and Lower Frequencies" features the multi-dimensional music performer, maker and selector Makimakkuk. 
This podcast comes as part of this year’s Gradus-العتبة programming in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and sound produced by Radio Atheer. Gradus-العتبة focuses on new music that is created by the music practitioners of Palestine. By providing opportunities for professional musicians to create and perform their music through various platforms, Gradus-العتبة encourages artistic collaborations and builds audiences by raising awareness about new music.

The Obsessives - Makimakkuk

The Obsessives is a podcast hosted by the composer Dina Shilleh, which sheds light on 5 Palestinian women music creators, with concentration on their processes, approaches, backgrounds and the nitty gritty of music creation. This episode titled "Oral Histories, Fantasie, the Supernatural and the Self" features the composer, pianist, bassist, singer-songwriter, improviser, producer and educator Donia Jarrar.
This podcast comes as part of this year’s Gradus-العتبة programming in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and sound produced by Radio Atheer. Gradus-العتبة focuses on new music that is created by the music practitioners of Palestine. By providing opportunities for professional musicians to create and perform their music through various platforms, Gradus-العتبة encourages artistic collaborations and builds audiences by raising awareness about new music.

The Obsessives - Donia Jarrar

The Obsessives is a podcast hosted by the composer Dina Shilleh, which sheds light on 5 Palestinian women music creators, with concentration on their processes, approaches, backgrounds and the nitty gritty of music creation. This episode titled "From Form into Deep Listening" features the oud player, singer, composer and improvisor Huda Asfour. 
This podcast comes as part of this year’s Gradus-العتبة programming in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and sound produced by Radio Atheer. Gradus-العتبة focuses on new music that is created by the music practitioners of Palestine. By providing opportunities for professional musicians to create and perform their music through various platforms, Gradus-العتبة encourages artistic collaborations and builds audiences by raising awareness about new music.

The Obsessives - Huda Asfour

The Obsessives is a podcast hosted by the composer Dina Shilleh, which sheds light on 5 Palestinian women music creators, with concentration on their processes, approaches, backgrounds and the nitty gritty of music creation. This episode titled "The Voice, Collaboration and Creation" features singer and music creator Maya Khaldi. 
This podcast comes as part of this year’s Gradus-العتبة programming in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and sound produced by Radio Atheer. Gradus-العتبة focuses on new music that is created by the music practitioners of Palestine. By providing opportunities for professional musicians to create and perform their music through various platforms, Gradus-العتبة encourages artistic collaborations and builds audiences by raising awareness about new music.

The Obsessives - Maya Khaldi

The Obsessives is a podcast hosted by the composer Dina Shilleh, which sheds light on 5 Palestinian women music creators, with concentration on their processes, approaches, backgrounds and the nitty gritty of music creation. This episode titled "Musical Expression, Language, and Classification" features  singer, composer and qanun player Christine Zayed. 
This podcast comes as part of this year’s Gradus-العتبة programming in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and sound produced by Radio Atheer. Gradus-العتبة focuses on new music that is created by the music practitioners of Palestine. By providing opportunities for professional musicians to create and perform their music through various platforms, Gradus-العتبة encourages artistic collaborations and builds audiences by raising awareness about new music.

The Obsessives - Christine Zayed

Robin Burlton’s "This Landscape of Resolute Blooms" (2022) is a three movement work for string quartet and voice premiered during العتبة-Gradus 2023 Concert Series by Mahmoud Karzon (Violin), Naseem Rimawi (Violin), Aidan Pendleton (Viola), Faris Amin (Cello), and Robin Burlton (Voice). It is a poetic and musical work reflecting on Palestine. First the poem came, used as text for the third movement. Then the musical response which uses the first two movements to place the poem in its chronological context. 

The first movement, "Dissolution and Chaconne", is, formally, an introduction, a chaconne (a repeated eight bar harmonic pattern) and a repetition of the introduction which frames the central chaconne. The movement plays with contrasts; dynamic shifts, technical changes, repeated harmonic dissonance and lack of resolution within an underlying constant. The music advances despite the surface insecurity which is conversely grounded by an unchanging pattern.

The second movement, "The Intervening Years", takes the idea of events occurring against a constant but this time the constant is merely a single, quiet note; a delicate, diminishing thread against which an angst-ridden 5/16 time signature breaks through with phrases which end soon after they begin and are inconsistent in length. There are periods of calm but these are always interrupted by the forte sections. The ending leaves a single, defiant note sounding alone.

The final movement, "This Landscape of Resolute Blooms", is divided into four sections, each section using a different scale pattern to reflect the change in textural mood (Saba Zamzam, changing Dorian scales, simplified Hijaz and a return to Saba Zamzam). A solo viola tentatively opens with broken exclamations before the voice forms an introspective duet with upper string additions. ‘Dances’ split the following sections, these dances being reflective codas which also introduce the following changes in tone, the last of which resets the viola’s opening sombre melodies. The work ends with re-statements of the piano five-note pattern from the very beginning of the first movement, bringing the music full circle.

Robin Burlton - This Landscape of Resolute Blooms

Dina Shilleh’s “Three Miniatures on Patriarchy” (2017) for string quintet is a work that was commissioned by and written for the German Folkwang International Ensemble in 2017. In 2019 it was performed in Miami by the New World Symphony Orchestra , as part of their chamber music concerts. The work has received the Marcel Khalife Composition Award - Second Prize (2021) by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. 
This recording is from the concert “This Landscape of Resolute Blooms: Music by Dina Shilleh and Robin Burlton”, which opened the العتبة-Gradus 2023 Concert Series. The work is performed by Mahmoud Karzon (Violin), Naseem Rimawi (Violin), Aidan Pendleton (Viola), Faris Amin (Cello), and Eleni Mustaklem (Double Bass). 
The first movement, “Trapped in Memory”, has a single driving ostinato that runs throughout the opening lament and into the fast section creating the feeling of entrapment. The second movement, “Why do you do this to us?”, is a cyclical progression through Lydian modes by downward motion reiterating the same question over and over until the final canonic reiteration of strength. The final movement, “We are angry!”, fluctuates between sections of nervous changing meter, pesante angry theme, and the sorrowful chorale.

Dina Shilleh - Three Miniatures on Patriarchy

تسلط هذه المحاضرة الضوء على المعيقات في تفاعل الجمهور مع الفنان المعاصر، محاولين جسر الفجوات بين التوقعات والنوايا الفنية. ونتساءل عن المجهود المطلوب لتسوية هذه الفجوة. فهل بالإمكان جعل هذه الأعمال أكثر قابلية للفهم والتفاعل. تسعى هذه المحادثة لكشف التوترات الكامنة في تحديد علاقة الجمهور بالفن عامةً والتجريبي خاصة. سنتحدث عن سهولة التشتت في متاهة العولمة واندماج الحضارات. عن الضبابية في المفهوم السائد للفنون والغرض منها. عن الحاجة إلى مساحة أكبر وفرص أكثر للتجريب. كل ذلك من اجل مواجه تفوق مؤشرات التقييم الكمي على التقدير النوعي. تجربة غنية بالتفكير النقدي والاستكشاف، حيث نقوم بتفكيك 
العلاقات المعقدة بين الفن الحديث، الجمهور، وثقافة السلع.

أتت هذه المحاضرة ضمن سلسلة محاضرات "حول الموسيقى" من تنظيم مبادرة العتبة  بالشراكة مع مركز خليل السكاكيني الثقافي، وبتمويل من الصندوق العربي للإنماء الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، ومن خلال برنامج "مساحات" لمؤسسة عبد المحسن القطان.

الحداثة في التأليف الموسيقي متاهة في غابة السلع, بشارة الخل

هناك اختلافات في كيفية عرض أو أداء الممارسات والتقاليد الموسيقية الفلسطينية أو تقديمها في السياق العام. منذ الحرب العالمية الأولى، مروراً بالانتداب البريطاني والأردن ومنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، لا زالت الممارسات الموسيقية الفلسطينية تتأرجح ما بين التعبئة والعالمية والاستقلالية والليبرالية الجديدة. في هذه المحاضرة شارك عيسى بولص أجزاء مختلفة من بحثه حيث يتناول هذه المسائل من خلال التركيز على الصناعة الموسيقى في فلسطين خلال النصف الثاني من القرن العشرين، كاشفاً عن روايات تاريخية غير معروفة. تعرض هذه المحاضرة  كيفية تعامل الفلسطينيين مع الصناعة الموسيقية، وكيفية توجيه الأعمال الموسيقية بقصد الدفع باتجاه مسارات محددة، ودور الفولكلور، والتخصيص،  والخطاب الاستعماري في تعريف الصناعة الموسيقية بين الفلسطينيين. 

 أتت هذه المحاضرة ضمن سلسلة محاضرات "حول الموسيقى" من تنظيم مبادرة العتبة  بالشراكة مع مركز خليل السكاكيني الثقافي، وبتمويل من الصندوق العربي للإنماء الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، ومن خلال برنامج "مساحات" لمؤسسة عبد المحسن القطان.

الموسيقى في فلسطين بين التعبير الفني والمقاومة والشعبوية والليبرالية الجديدة - عيسى بولص

يكثر الحديث في أوساط الموسيقى عن المقامات وعلاقتها بجوهر الموسيقى الشرقية وتطورها عبر العصور، ولكن قليلا ما يتم البحث في ماهية المقامات وما هي طبيعة هذه العلاقة وحدودها. هذه المحاضرة بمثابة محاولة للبحث في الجانب التقني والفلسفي للمقامات الشرقية، ودراسة بعدها العملي والنظري ونقاط الخلاف بين الجانبين. والصراع بين قولبة الموسيقى الشرقية في أطر الأصالة والتقاليد او الحداثة والإبداع.

 أتت هذه المحاضرة ضمن سلسلة محاضرات "حول الموسيقى" من تنظيم مبادرة العتبة  بالشراكة مع مركز خليل السكاكيني الثقافي، وبتمويل من الصندوق العربي للإنماء الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، ومن خلال برنامج "مساحات" لمؤسسة عبد المحسن القطان.

المقامات الشرقية:  بين الحداثة والتقاليد - أحمد الخطيب

حوار  مع كاميليا جبران يستعرض  المحاور الرئيسية في مسارها وأعمالها الموسيقية. من خلال الحوار مع الميسرة مايا الخالدي لهذا اللقاء، نتقرب إلى عالم كاميليا الموسيقي،  وذلك بالكلام  وعن طريق سماع عينات موسيقية مسجلة تساند هذه المواضيع. 

 أتت هذه المحاضرة ضمن سلسلة محاضرات "حول الموسيقى" من تنظيم مبادرة العتبة  بالشراكة مع مركز خليل السكاكيني الثقافي، وبتمويل من الصندوق العربي للإنماء الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، ومن خلال برنامج "مساحات" لمؤسسة عبد المحسن القطان.

مسار - حوار مع كاميليا جبران  وتجربتها الموسيقية

حاملُ الهَوى، حاملُ النغم  -  خالد جبران

"أنا لست في غرفة ضيقة" هو عرض موسيقي يرافقه نص يحكي قصة من قصص الأسر في فلسطين. هذا العرض هو نتاج الدعوة المفتوحة "التأليف الموسيقي المشترك لمقاومة المحو الثقافي" الذي أطلقته مبادرة العتبة في أيار   2024 بالشراكة مع مركز خليل السكاكيني الثقافي، وبتمويل من الصندوق العربي للإنماء الاقتصادي والاجتماعي. عمل كل من الموسيقيين إبراهيم نجم، نسيم ريماوي، فارس امين، حسام برهم، ومجدل نجم والكاتبة داليا طه في التأليف واستكشاف احتمالات التعبير المشترك وإنتاج عمل فني في ظل الظروف القاسية التي نعيشها اليوم كشكل من أشكال مقاومة المحو الثقافي. يستكشف عمل "أنا لست في غرفة ضيقة" الغناء في الساعة المظلمة ويحكي في مونولوجات قصيرة جزءا من تاريخ السجن وتاريخ اولئك الذي خرجوا من خلال الموسيقى والغناء والتأليف من زنازينه الضيقة.

"أنا لست في غرفة ضيقة"  - Gradus Collaborative Creation Performance

"Al Nakba" is a performance by the Ghilan Band (consisting of Kanaan Elghoul, Maen Elghoul, and Mohamad Elghoul), which was part of the Gradus-العتبة  “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on November 2, 2024, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  
“Is music like a spring? Flowing despite the violence? A witness to what is lost?” The performance features ten musical works in which the musicians transition from their childhood memories in Silwan to the present. These pieces express their connections to the various identities and histories they inherited, blending their sense of home, Andalusian music, and their Palestinian reality. The musical works  move from memories of carefree childhood to the brutality of the present, as if asking “How can we create music amidst the nightmare? How can the flow of music serve as a witness?”.


Expressions of Cultural Resistance Series - Al Nakba

“Yet Still I Sense You Everywhere” is a collaborative concert of music by Dina Shilleh and Robin Burlton (joined in performance by Leila Abukhater, Hikmat Qaymari, Ibrahim Najem, and Faris Amin), which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on December 7, 2024, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  

This performance has, as its nucleus, the ongoing events in Palestine; how individually and collectively the memories, minds, histories, fears and desires of each of us have been affected and shaped by what is taking place. There are moments contemplating the personal ways in which we deal with trauma and broader expressions of collective grief and reflection. Musically, this is heard in fragmented melodies, repetitive figures, clashing harmonies and textures which range from sparse, thin individual meditations to dense, heavy brooding on a time and place which empathy seems to have passed by.


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - Yet Still I Sense You Everywhere

“Echoes of Resistance” is a performance of music by Tareq Aboushi (joined in performance by Abdelrahman Alqam, Charlie Rishmawi, and Waseem Qassis), which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on January 4, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  

This performance is an exploration of Palestinian heritage, reinterpreting older songs and weaving in elements of the present-day struggle. Tareq Aboushi draws inspiration from the rich tapestry of Palestinian music and poetry, focusing on the theme of resistance, which has shaped the identity of the people for centuries. This performance reflects the defiant spirit of resistance, blending traditional melodies with contemporary realities. 


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - Echoes of Resistance

"Wailing Songs of the Past, Might they Grow our Resilience" is a performance of music by Maya Khaldi (joined in performance by Sarona, Faris Amin, and Zeina Amro), which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on February 3, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  

This is a musical work that revisits rituals of loss and explores the wailing traditions within Palestinian heritage. Expression of death and the pain of departure in Palestinian folklore took the form of a collective ritual, in which women would lead songs and lamentations during mourning and burial rites. Over time, this musical genre began to fade, and with it, the voices of the wailers disappeared. Through research into this history tied to women, Maya discovers the lyrics of some funeral songs, while also encountering the silence that has enveloped this sound of grief. Maya composes music for the five songs she has found, sharing her explorations, experimentation, and engagement with the question of loss and death in this work.


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - Wailing Songs of the Past, May they Grow our Resilience

“As Time Unfolds” is a performance of music by Maen Elghoul (joined in performance by Shahid Khaldi, Benan Khdija, and Mohammad Hibi), which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on February 24, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  
The music takes us on an exploration of the concept of time, reflecting on our connection to time in a place as complex as Palestine. This work seeks the rhythm of existence within the Palestinian experience—a rhythm that has preserved continuity in the face of a harsh reality that consistently pulls people out of time. As he searches for this rhythm, Maen ventures beyond Palestine, delving into the rhythms of other cultures, such as India. Through this exploration, the focus shifts to the very essence of rhythm, searching for its meanings and expressions through music, and how, through rhythmic movement, people continue to cross the boundaries of time.


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - As Time Unfolds

"A Thread’s Lead" is a performance of music by Tareq Abboushi, Amad Eid, and Naseem Rimawi, which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on March 8, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  
The music questions how we envision the future we desire? What do we do with the stories passed down to us about a borderless past, where train tracks once led to cities that now seem out of reach? How do we bridge that past—when our ancestors could enjoy a lavish meal on the shores of Beirut and return to their homes in Palestine on the same day—with the present, where iron gates, walls, and checkpoints divide us? In this performance, the 3 musicians explore themes of imagination, movement, and freedom through a blend of Eastern and Western musics and instruments. 


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - A Thread's Lead

“This Wasteland of Senses” is a performance of music by Dina Shilleh and Robin Burlton, which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on April 26, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  

 Dina and Robin offer three new pieces, each a reflection of or reaction to the present events in Palestine. We hear explorations of the nature of belonging, of how to place the personal in a land that weaves so many different threads into its tapestry of identity. The deeply personal and intimate are mixed with broader considerations of survival, struggle, patience and destruction. Musically this is heard in extremes of tempo, texture and form; sparse, static sound worlds give way to explosions of emotion which abruptly return to an uneasy calm - a reflection of the instability with which we live.


Expressions Of Cultural Resistance - This Wasteland of Senses

“Once Upon a Time in the Land of Canaan” is a performance of music by Mahmoud Karzon (joined in performance by Leila Abukhater, Hikmat Qaymari, Jalal Nader, Faris Amin, Amir Malhis, and Dina Shilleh), which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on May 10, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  

This performance takes the listener on an emotional journey, transforming natural phenomena into musical and sonic moments. It explores the concept of "storytelling” through music and reflects on the chaos of the past and the uncertainty of the future, inviting the listener to experience conflicting emotions such as sadness, confusion, joy, and hope. The music accelerates towards an ending that explores hope and light after moments of uncertainty. This work explores the relationship between nature and music and takes this journey as a step towards embracing hope and renewal.


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - Once Upon a Time in the Land of Canaan

“The Zajal’s of the Earth and the Seventh Heaven” is a performance by Dirar Kalash, which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on May 17, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  

This work questions Palestinian song, or to be more accurate song as a sonic expression in Palestine, it’s possibilities and spatilities under the colonial and genocidal conditions; not on how a song is possible, but on its primal components and relationships: its time, space, and environment, all of which are like shaking questions with each raid and assault, that makes singing as an act outside the word, a collective work which is the result not only of a collective concern, but also a collective position and organization, and the result of a sound that can question these times and this space, beyond the concept of mimesis – which is often considered an important component of traditional song and music, as in the sonic mimesis of social life -- , to become a sonic work that is able to be more than just a mere echo of reality, that doesn’t reduce pain and concern in a simple word or melody, but that explodes in more than one sound.


Expressions of Cultural Resistance - The Zajal’s of the Earth and the Seventh Heaven

“Constructed Distances” is a performance of music by Muqata’a, which was part of the Gradus-العتبة “Expressions of Cultural Resistance” concert series at The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem on May 31, 2025, in partnership with the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center and funded by the Arabi Fund for Social and Economic Development.  
This performance explores the imposed reality of fragmentation, disconnection, and dispersion. Through field recordings, sonic fragments, and unstable rhythms, it constructs embodied sonic formations. The performance consists of a series of musical pieces presented as a single unit in an attempt to explore fragmentation and geographical dissonance, and the relationship between the two. The work questions the engineering of reality that produces lived experiences which appear dissonant, even though they are interconnected. It deconstructs the notion of “solidarity” as an act that takes distance from events, revealing this contradiction in an attempt to break it and search for deeper forms of connection and unity.

Expressions of Cultural Resistance - Constructed Distances

In my City, my Country (2025) for voice, oboe, cello and prepared piano reflects on the composer’s sense of loneliness and a feeling of being dissonant within her own country.  It incorporates striking chords, repetitive patterns, clashing textures and musical quotations from the composer’s dual background. These elements are placed within a texture which is both divergent and yet unifying at the same time providing an outlet for an untold story.

“All of our Palestinian stories and experiences are valid! Even those that are not necessarily bloody or life threatening. Even those told by Palestinians who were not born here. Whose multiple languages mix together. Who are children of refugees to the West Bank. Who are children of those who returned in the 90’s after their decades long exile. Who are not affiliated. Who are nonconformist women. Whose music is classed as foreign. And who value human life above all.”

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