A benefit for Twelve Gates Arts

Sham-E-Ali Nayeem:

Author of the poetry collection, City of Pearls (UpSet Press 2019), Sham-e-Ali Nayeem is a Hyderabadi Muslim American poet, musician, interdisciplinary artist, and recovering social justice lawyer. Her poetry has appeared in Apiary, The Margins, Wildness Journal (Platypus Press), Origins Journal (in partnership with Split This Rock), Dusie and Mizna. Her work can also be found in numerous anthologies, including Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out (Olive Branch Press, 2005), Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak (Beacon Press, 2005) and Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence (Seal Press, 2008).

She has released two albums, City of Pearls (ft. Qais Essar, 2019) and Moti Ka Sheher (2023) featuring musical interpretations from her book resting in soundscapes ranging from classical rabab to her own self composed and produced electronica. Her work explores grief and loss, ancestral transmissions, international solidarities and space to imagine. Sham-e-Ali is the recipient of the 2022 Leeway Transformation Award and the 2016 Loft Literary Center Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship.

Swetha Narasimhan:

Swetha Narasimhan started learning violin at the age of 6 from Dr. Narayan Raman in Indianapolis, USA. Later, she was taught by several violinists, including Shri. Purna Chander Rao, Trichy Shri. Sathyamurthy, and Smt. Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi. She is currently learning from Smt. Gowri Ramakrishnan. Swetha has participated in several music festivals and won first prizes in competitions in CMANA Great Composer’s Day and the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana. She has accompanied many major Carnatic artists in and around New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Julius Masri:

Julius Masri is a Philadelphia based multi instrumentalist, and performer/composer for the city's dance community at large. His music focuses on improvisatory methods and syncretic / linguistic exchanges within various musical languages including Jazz, Metal, AfroCuban, Experimental Noise, and Arabic music. Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, he moved to the States in 1990 and picked up drumming a year later. He studied with Philadelphia instructors Carl Mottola, Elaine Hoffman-Watts, and as an undergraduate at Bard College, with AACM's Thurman Barker, Richard Teitelbaum, and Joan Tower. Julius plays drums, circuit modified Casio keyboards, Oud, Kamancheh (aka Rabab, Spike Fiddle), and various other instruments. He currently performs in groups such as grind/crust metal band Night Raids, free jazz groups Sirius Juju and Dromedaries, trombone and synth duo Superlith, and more. He has performed with Henry Grimes, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Thurman Barker and members of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Julius is a recipient of a 2022 Yaddo Fellowship for composition, the 2022 university of the arts creative research and innovation grant, and project funding via pew center for arts & heritage, as well as Swarthmore college and the Andrew W. Mellon foundation.

wheelchair accessible ramp available, please contact us in advance for assistance.

Contact the host of Sham-E-Ali Nayeem + Swetha Narasimhan & Julius Masri