IB Global Spotlight: Middle East
Grades 5 - 12

From 9th century Baghdad, emerged the musical legend Ziryab, who brought al-oud (Middle Eastern lute) and a wealth of Eastern culture to Andalusia and the Iberian peninsula. During this vibrant and culturally rich era of Islamic Spain, musical and poetic forms flourished planting the seeds for the European renaissance. Ziryab's trail, which eventually led him to Córdoba, stretched from Arab and Persian lands of the east, through greater Syria, Egypt, and North Africa. The route continued straddling the shores of the Mediterranean sea, across the Straits of Gibraltar, and into Al-Andalus: a land where Jews, Christians, and Muslims co-existed for over seven centuries creating a unique and diverse society. Ronnie Malley and Las Guitarras de España's presentation pays tribute to this cultural history of medieval Spain and carries on its tradition of cross-cultural collaboration to the present.