Simon Shaheen is hosting the Seventh Annual Arabic Music Retreat at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA USA. August 9-16, 2003. The Retreat gathers master-level instructors to teach intensive theory and performance classes for a week, capped by a recital by participants and instructors. More information see: www.simon-shaheen.com

Shaheen is one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation. His work incorporates and reflects a legacy of Arabic music, while it forges ahead to new frontiers, embracing many different styles in the process. This unique contribution to the world of arts was recognized in 1994 when Shaheen was honored with the prestigious National Heritage Award.

In the 1990s he released four albums of his own: Saltanah (Water Lily Acoustics), Turath (CMP), Taqasim (Lyrichord), and Simon Shaheen: The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab (Axiom), while also contributing cuts to producer Bill Laswell's fusion collective, Hallucination Engine (Island). He arranged and re-recorded the smash remake of the Latin singer Soraya's song, I'm Yours, released on the compilation Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms. He has contributed selections to soundtracks for The Sheltering Sky and Malcolm X, among others, and has composed the entire soundtrack for the United Nations-sponsored documentary, For Everyone Everywhere. Broadcast globally in December 1998, this film celebrated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Charter.

But perhaps his greatest success has come with Blue Flame (ARK21, 2001), where he leads his group, Qantara, on a labyrinthian journey through the world of fusion music to discover the heart of the Middle East.