Composed and performed by Feras Charestan
Samai (also transliterated sama’i or sema’i) is a venerable compositional form in
Arabic and Ottoman classical music, typically in 6/8 meter. Performed both as
secular art music and as part of the liturgical musical repertoire that accompanies
the sacred dance of the Mevlevi Sufi order (“whirling dervishes”), samai
continues to serve contemporary composer-performers, like Feras Charestan, as a
vessel of tradition-based musical innovation.
Feras Charestan is from the city of Al-Hasakeh, in the northeast of Syria, and studied
qanun at the High Institute of Music in Damascus. He has performed as a qanun soloist
with symphony orchestras and has been a member of popular bands as well as
contemporary music ensembles, creating new music rooted in Middle Eastern traditions.
Feras Charestan currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden.