Eastern students will get to experience Israeli music and culture Saturday.

The Yamma: Ensemble Israel will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Theatre of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

The ensemble was created in 2004 for leading figures in the Israeli music scene.

The Ensemble is made up of members: Talya G.A. Solan, lead vocals;
Avri Borochov, double bass;
Yonnie Dror, wind instruments;
Aviad Ben Yehuda, percussion (darbuka, cajon, bells);
Sefi Asfuri, string instruments (oud, bouzouki, violin); and
Evgeny Krolik, sound engineer.

The band creates sounds that are inspired by Eastern European, Balkan, Gypsy, Sephardic and Yemenite melodies.

Dan Crews, the director of Patron Services for the Doudna Fine Arts Center, said the band’s sound is something that most Americans are not familiar with.

“They play traditional Israeli music,” Crews said. “The music has a number of influences most Americans are not familiar with. They sing in Hebrew and Aramaic.”

This ensemble combines instruments from all over the world. Some instruments such as violins, guitars are known to Americans, but the instruments also include things such as: Ouds, a 3,500 year old string instrument and was the ancestor of the lute and guitar; a Jumbushs, an instrument similar to the banjo; and Darbukas, a hour-glass-shaped drum popular throughout the Middle East.

The Yamma: Ensemble Israel is taking place as a part of the 2011-2013 Arts Midwest World Fest, which presents international musical ensembles to Midwest communities and provide residencies in the community.

While in the area, Yamma will present workshops at elementary and senior high schools in Oakland, Casey, Robinson, Oblong and as well as Lake Land and Lincoln Trail Colleges.

“Many of these (schools) rarely get this type of opportunity,” Crews said. “They get to experience another culture, one they’ll be totally unfamiliar with.”

The 2011-2013 Arts Midwest World Fest is sponsored by many foundations including, but not limited to, the National Endowment for the Arts, the 3M Foundation, MetLife Foundation and the Illinois Art Council.

Crews said music can help us to celebrate difference.

“Music is a language that is universal,” Crews said. “Through these seductive tones and intoxicating rhythms we might find a way to see ourselves in the world around us differently.”

Admission to the Yamma: Ensemble Israel is $10.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.