It was great to participate today in a residency with Nahid and Alsarah of Alsarah & The Nubatones at the Durham School of the Arts. After a stunning performance by the band, the DSA chorus treated us by singing Alsarah’s “3roos Elneel (Bride of the Nile,” which I had arranged for SAB mixed chorus. This is the first of a series of US-based Muslim artists Duke Performances is bringing to Durham as part of a project that seeks to combat Islamophobia and strengthen understanding, through music, between local Muslim and non-Muslim communities. I am thrilled to have been a part of it and to have shared in the experience with the students at DSA and the Nubatones.