Doused in rich history and knowledge of Middle Eastern music, UCSB’s Middle East Ensemble came to Moorpark College for the annual Multicultural Day.

Director Scott Marcus not only leads his Santa Barbara group, with knowledge and respect for the instruments and beautiful music they create, but plays as well. Marcus plays an oboe-like instrument, known in Arabic as Al Mizmar. The loud, smooth sound is likened with a snake slithering out of a basket, as a man would play the instrument and put the reptile in a form of hypnosis.

Other instruments previewed which are very popular in Middle East music are the clarinet, violin, the reed flute, a Persian santoor, middle eastern drums, and al ud, an instrument which was invented by Persians, but adopted by Europeans as the lute. Performances included belly dancer Kalli Sundari, and two Middle Eastern singers, Mohamed Moharram and Hala Abdul-Baki.

The small instrumental group featured today consisted of Nancy Capelle, Ari Marcus, Scott Marcus, Daniel Mogtaderi, Clarissa Bitar, and Sijie Loo, but is usually accompanied with a group of 30.