Selected Tracks

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and

find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Wassim Ibrahim, friend of Cantigas for many years, received his composition degree from Damascus’ High Institute of Music. Shortly thereafter he was accepted to the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland where he completed a PhD in 2019. Ibrahim’s career in Poland has flourished. An accomplished oud player, he performs weekly with world music ensembles; also conducting five choral ensembles. He was named Krakow’s Cultural Ambassador.

“Damascus Breeze,” his American premiere, was commissioned for Cantigas in 2014. This past September, Ibrahim visited us once again, and with South African musician, Ethan Smith, performed a concert on behalf of refugees living in Hudson County, New Jersey.  Ibrahim’s works have been performed throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The musical essence of Rumi’s Sufi devotional practice is reflected in this piece.

Both light and shadow are the dance of love.