“Darej” is a concert based on traditional and folk Arabic music by 3 musical ensembles of graduation year students from the Action for Hope music school. The concert tours around Jordan with a series of 8 concerts, two of which will be held at Darat al Funun. Wessal is an ensemble of 6 young musicians: Zakariya Ali (singing), Fadi Al Assal (Oud), Omar Hamdan (Ney), Mahmoud Qureishah (Clarinet), Hanin Besmar (Duff), Marwa AbdelHalim (Riqq). The program will include songs and instrumental pieces from the Syrian and Iraqi traditional repertoire such as: Naweit Asibak, Fog El Nakhal, and Ghazaly.

Action for Hope was founded in 2015 to provide cultural development and cultural relief programs that meet the cultural, social, and psychological needs of distressed, marginalized, and displaced communities.

Action for Hope Music Schools started in Lebanon in 2015 as a specialized, methodical and regular, music study program that includes over 650 hours of music teaching for each student.  This program currently runs in two locations: Action for Hope Cultural Center in Barr Elias, Beqaa, Lebanon, and in Amman, Jordan.

Action for hope Music Schools aim to provide young men and women living in refugee and marginalized communities in Lebanon and Jordan with the creative skills and tools needed to communicate, and to express themselves freely and creatively, as well as to enable them to work professionally as musicians.  The schools also aim at preserving the traditional music heritage of refugee and marginalized communities through learning and practice, and enriching cultural life in Lebanon and Jordan with new artistic work made by young artists who come from these communities.

To achieve these general goals, Action for Hope Music Schools accept 55 new students each year in the basic music study level in Lebanon and Jordan and provide them with the knowledge and skills needed to play, read and understand music. The schools also provide 40 – 45 graduates each year with the skills they need to work professionally as musicians, including organizing them in small ensembles and presenting them in concert tours in Lebanon and Jordan.