Arab Orchestra Of San Francisco

The Arab Orchestra of San Francisco was founded with a specific vision in mind for the repertoire and the sound that it would offer. The repertoire of the AOSF is chosen from among the most demanding Arabic art pieces. The members of the orchestra are musicians with a solid background and the sound of the orchestra relies on the strength of each individual player, not just when they perform composed and improvised solos, but also when the entire orchestra is performing.

The orchestra sound is not traditional. For one, it is unique in that solo rhythmic improvisation is included almost in every piece that it performs. Another uniqueness is that the pieces are often re-arranged for the individual players. In each piece, one of the orchestra members is the main sound while the rest of the orchestra plays a supporting role. And finally the play list for each performance is very diverse in terms of composers, time periods, styles, and country of origin.