Day of ARTolerance

Exploring Latin & Middle Eastern Cultural Connection

ARTolerance will present a Day of ARTolerance at Esperanza in North Philadelphia, on Friday, March 22, 2019. The day will include an interfaith poetry component led by students, instrumental instructions with Esperanza high school students, rehearsals for students participation in our public culminating performance that evening open to the students, their families and public. ARTolerance Dialogue in Three Movements will serve as the platform for the day, with the theme of Latin & Middle Eastern cultural connection.
Free Tickets Available for Students and Children. (Apply Discount at Check-Out.)
Udi Bar-David, Cellist
Hafez Kotain, Percussionist
Keila Pérez-Vega- Dancer
Cynthia Samaha, Vocalist

Udi Bar-David, Cellist
Udi Bar-David is widely considered one of the most versatile cellists in the world, performing on international stages with both classical and ethnic musicians. Udi studied in Tel-Aviv, with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, and Orchestral Conducting at Curtis Institute of Music. Udi won the International Villa Lobos Competition in Brazil, and appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Jerusalem Symphony and Philly Pops. He was featured on the TODAY show, and was represented by Astral Artistic Services and the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity. He has served as principal cellist with many orchestras, and has been a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra since the late 1980s. As a chamber musician, Udi has collaborated with Christoph Eschenbach, Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, Rudolph Buchbinder, Emanuel Ax and others. As Founder and Artistic Director of Intercultural Journeys, he produced numerous events world-wide. Udi has recently created Artolerance – an important new effort to expand the crucial role music and the arts play in fostering understanding and tolerance. Udi has toured the US, Europe, Palestine, Israel, Cuba and Asia, with world-renowned artists, including Jie Bing Chen, Nawang Khechog, Hanna Khoury, Wu Man, Diane Monroe, R. Carlos Nakai, Mandy Patinkin, and Simon Shaheen.
Hafez Kotain, Percussionist
Hafez Kotain is the Percussion Director at Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, Keystone State Boychoir and The Arab Percussion Ensemble at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a master percussionist fluent in both Arab and Latin rhythms–a fluency he honed in his native countries of Venezuela and Syria. In 2013 he received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, a prestigious award given to Philadelphia artists of exemplary talent. He began playing the doumbek at the age of seven years, made his first stage performance at nine years, winning the national percussion competitions in Syria for five consecutive years. Kotain first began his career as an educator, teaching a variety of percussion styles to dedicated students, musicians and music teachers. In 2010 and 2011, Kotain taught at the Arab Music Retreat led by the internationally acclaimed Arab music performer, Simon Shaheen. He has performed with Lebanese composer, singer, and oud master Marcel Khalife and Al Mayadine Ensemble in their latest US and Canada tour for “Fall of the Moon: An Homage to the Poet Mahmoud Darwish.” Kotain has also toured with singer George Wassouf in Canada and the US, and has performed with acclaimed artist Sting, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Artolerance, Arabesque Music Ensemble, composer Kareem Roustom and with actor and tenor Mandy Patinkin.
Keila Pérez-Vega- Dancer
Keila Perez-Vega is a 2015 BFA University of the Arts graduate where she received extensive training in ballet, modern, jazz and improvisation. In 2012, Keila became a principal dancer at Eleone Dance Theatre where she remained for 3 years. Post-graduation, Keila settled in Philadelphia, worked as a freelance artist and was a part of Dance Iquail in its 2015 season. Thereafter, Keila has worked with numerous local artists in dance and photography including: Ani/Malayaworks (PHL), 10HL Projects (NYC), Melissa Rector & dancers (PHL) among others. Keila is a performing dance artist with Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, Marketing/Events Director at Koresh Dance Company, and coordinator with ARTolerance. Keila is the proud founder of Artsi, a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization that creates spaces for new and diverse audiences to experience art in innovative ways.