Renowned singer Faia Younan in concert at the American University

The Palestinian Student Cultural Club at the American University in Dubai (AUD) is organizing a live concert featuring Syrian singer Faia Younan on the 20th of February in the AUD auditorium.

Faia is best known for her To Our Countries performance featuring her sister Rihan, in a hit YouTube video that has now surpassed two million views. Faia recently participated in the opening of the prestigious Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, and the success she has achieved in her concerts at the Opera House at Damascus and the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, have put her in the lead of young Arab artists presenting art that carries cultural, social and humanitarian values.

Dr. Nadia Wardeh, Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the American University in Dubai and advisor of the Palestinian Cultural Club shared that they had been touched after watching the now famous video, “we felt that her cultural, artistic and creative project connected with our own, and that Faia seemed to carry in her heart and her soul a very important message that the new generation could relate to.”

Dr. Wardeh continued, “the Club is always keen to introduce new ideas, so this year they are organizing a special event featuring Faia with her magical voice.” The young singer will be accompanied by musician Walid Nasser on percussions, Bashar Farran on double bass, Jihad Assaad on qanoun, and pianist Rayan Al Habre will conduct the concert. The Club is happy to have Mix FM as their media partner for the event.

The Palestinian Cultural Club, a student organization working within the university sphere, has a history of activities aimed at supporting the less fortunate. The Club previously hosted famous Arab Idol Mohammad Assaf, donating the profits of his concert to the Palestinian refugees of Yarmouk Camp. In the same year, the club also organized a Palestinian Night, featuring a series of performances including standup comedy, dabkeh dance and live music, whose profits were donated to the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Additionally, the club organized “From Dubai, here is Damascus,” an event featuring famous Arab rap singers, and whose profits were used to donate food, blankets and clothing to Syrian refugees in Jordan.

The club has been honored to also host a concert featuring Marcel Khalifa, events attended by Julia Boutros, and an evening with the late Palestinian poet Samih al Qasim who performed for the last time on AUD’s stage.

The club has also organized several seminars, including a seminar entitled “Palestinian Achievers” which hosted both Iskandar Copti the Palestinian director, who was nominated for an academy award and Bashar Ibrahim, who is considered one of the most prominent critics contributing to archiving Palestinian cinema. Another seminar was organized hosting Riyad Kamal the founder of Arabtec and finally a seminar that hosted Suzanne Al Houbbi, the first Arab woman to climb Mount Everest.

On the activities of the Club, Dr. Wardeh concludes: "as customary, the Palestinian Cultural Club is keen to promote a culture of creativity and artistry through different events, while celebrating differences in identity, and ideology. The club continuously celebrates cultural, ethnic and religious diversity by featuring artists of diverse nationalities.”

Faia Younan’s concert at AUD promises to be exceptional.