Folio Presents: Oud: A Musical History with Stephen Elaimy and Jane Hall

Inspired by Rachel Beckles’s The Oud: An Illustrated History, Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum is delighted to welcome members of the Seattle based Arabic Music Ensemble House of Tarab (HOT), Stephen Elaimy (oud) and Jane Hall (darabuka & riqq), for a musical journey through the history of the oud.

The oud is one of the oldest and most revered string instruments in the world, with origins stretching back thousands of years to ancient Mesopotamia. Known as king of instruments across the Middle East and North Africa, it is a short-necked, pear-shaped lute with a deep, resonant tone that has shaped the musical traditions of Arab, Persian, Turkish, and Greek cultures alike. Unlike the guitar, the oud is fretless, allowing players to produce the subtle microtonal inflections so central to Arabic maqam music, making it a vessel of both intimate expression and grand cultural heritage.

Together, Stephen and Jane will guide us through the rich and sweeping history of the oud, bringing its sounds to life across time and geography. From the golden age of Egyptian music and film to the melodic traditions of the Levant, the program traces the oud’s long and winding journey through the Arab world. Along the way, the duo will explore how these ancient sounds have traveled into the Western musical imagination, surfacing in samples and scores in ways many listeners may recognize without knowing their origins. Punctuated by the rhythm of Jane’s riqq and darabuka, the evening promises a living history of one of the world’s most enduring instruments.

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