Knight Arts Challenge winner Michigan Arab Orchestra makes headlines this month. The ArabAmericanNews.com reported on the orchestra’s Building Bridges through Music program at Detroit’s Woodward Academy. Click here to read the complete article and/or read an excerpt below…

The Michigan Arab Orchestra

Cross-posted from ArabAmericanNews.com

After spending eight centuries in the Iberian Peninsula, Arabs left a long-lasting mark on European music. Traces of this influence may be heard on our radios today. But the Michigan Arab Orchestra did not have to conquer Spain to spread the Arabic music tradition. The orchestra is teaching Arabic music at Detroit’s Woodward Academy.

Titled, “Building Bridges through Music,” the MAO after-school music program started in September, after the orchestra received a $100,000 grant from the Knight Foundation.  This grant was part of $2.1 million that was distributed by the Knight Foundation to 56 groups of artists in Detroit to finance their ideas. Click here to continue reading the article