Galeet Dardashti

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The Naming is an innovative exploration of culture, religion, politics, and gender through the lens of Middle Eastern music.

This project creates fresh and provocative compositions that draw inspiration from the musical and cultural landscapes of the Middle East, inhabited by some of the compelling yet under-appreciated Jewish and non-Jewish Biblical women and their descendants.

Galeet has composed songs, recorded an album, and engaged others through performance and interaction with her works. The Naming draws from a variety of sources, weaving Midrashic, Talmudic and Biblical texts with poetry, family anecdotes, and current events.

The songs are written in Hebrew, English, Arabic, Persian and Aramaic and involve collaborations with female singers of various Middle Eastern nationalities and faiths. Galeet’s project also involves collaborations with DJs, combining traditional Middle Eastern sounds with electronic music.

Galeet has performed at a variety of venues, including the Sephardic Music Festival, and she premiered The Naming at Santos Party House on Lafayette Street.

Galeet Dardashti pursues her passion for Jewish music as an accomplished singer and anthropologist. Following a long family tradition of distinguished Persian and Jewish musicianship, she is the founder and leader of the eclectic all-female Mizrahi/Sephardi ensemble Divahn.

Galeet has also performed as a soloist locally and internationally with numerous ensembles. As a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, Galeet is completing her dissertation on Middle Eastern and Arab music in Israel.

Her dissertation research in Israel was funded by fellowships from Fulbright-Hays, The National Foundation for Jewish Culture and The Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, among others.

During her fieldwork, Galeet studied and performed Arab and Persian music with some of Israel’s most renowned musicians, such as Yair Dalal. She offers artist/scholar-in-residencies, interactive musical workshops and academic lectures on her work’s solid scholarly background from which she can explore artistically in The Naming.

Contact Info:

http://galeetdardashti.com/