Smith Memorial Concert & Tibbits presents KARAMA: An Arab World Music & Dance Celebration at Tibbits Opera House

Tickets for this event range from $10-$30. Doors will open and seating for this event will begin 30 minutes prior to showtime.Kicking off the community-wide Cultivating Community event schedule, the Smith Memorial Concert will feature KARAMA: An Arab World Music & Dance Celebration.Karama means generosity. The Arab World is a place of artistic and cultural diversity. Yet one can feel a connection and continuity throughout, made possible by the Arabic language and this shared ethic of generosity.Karim Nagi leads a music and dance ensemble that shares and expresses traditional and ethnic creations from varying regions of the Arab world. A verbal oratory is woven into the performance, to help audiences expand their understanding of what they are watching. From Egypt to Algeria, Syria to Saudi Arabia, Iraq to Yemen, the skilled dancers and virtuosic musicians will generously encapsulate this broad culture into a memorable evening of broader cultural understanding.The annual benefit concert, organized by Diane Smith Pridgeon and her sister Susanne Smith Wise, honors the memories of their family Ruth, Robert, Douglas and Dean Smith. Years ago when their father and two brothers died in a small plane crash, the farming community rallied around the family to help them harvest their fields. The musical celebration, as Pridgeon has explained, is a way for us to give back to the community that loved us back to lifeProceeds from the concert this year will fund future diversity programming. Over the years, different non-profits have benefited from this event, including Habitat for Humanity, the local food pantry and health clinic, Hospice, Family Promise, Tibbits, area high school choir programs, and others.Family pricing for this event is available by calling (517) 278-6029.