PC Instructor Performing in Cairo
Rob Hodges, a Porterville cellist, vocalist and PC Adjunct Faculty member, 
has been invited by the government of Egypt to perform at the Cairo Opera House in Cairo. The July two-week tour included the presentation of a workshop, shopping in Khan al-Khalili, climbing Bab iz-Zuwayla minaret, touring the Giza pyramids, a Nile boat ride, visiting several museums, and performing at eight venues along the way. Hodges, who is a music instructor and reference librarian at Porterville College, has been a member of the University of California Santa Barbara Middle Eastern Music Ensemble since 1997. The ensemble - the largest Middle Eastern music ensemble in the country - includes instrumentalists, dancers and a chorus.
Scott Marcus, an ethnomusicology professor at UCSB and founder of the ensemble, was contacted and the planning for a trip began. They perform music and dance from Arab, Turkish, Persian, Armenian, Greek, Sephardic and Oriental Jewish, Kurdish, and Assyrian cultures. Performance items range from classical pieces to religious, folk, popular, and children’s songs, as well as folk, classical, and cabaret-style dances.
Following the workshop, the ensemble will visit Muhammad Ali Street — known as the musical instrument street, or a street which was once full of musicians and of shops making instruments — in Cairo’s Musical Quarter. But it is the Opera House experience that Hodges said he is looking forward to the most. “The highlight of the trip will be the performance at the Opera House,” Hodges said. “It is a historic venue where all of the great musicians of Egypt have performed.” Hodges is also a solo vocalist and will perform about six solos — all in Arabic. “We’ve selected some songs that will represent some of the great singers and composers — musical icons — of Egypt, singing songs from films of the 40s, 50s, and of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca,” Hodges said. “I don’t actually speak the language but fortunately some of the members of the ensemble are native speakers and native-language instructors and can help me with pronunciation.” speakers and native-language instructors and can help me with pronunciation.”
Porterville Recorder photo
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