Introducing the Delia Sessions: The Acoustic Music Series by the Delia Arts Foundation
The Delia Arts Foundation, the organisation providing the tools, infrastructure, and resources for musicians in regions where opportunities are scarce, has just announced the launch of the Delia Sessions, a regular music show featuring Palestinian musicians, starting with Rola Milad Azar. The Delia Arts Foundation is a non-profit organisation working with musicians in conflict zones, and works with artists from conflict high-poverty regions and marginalised communities for the Delia Sessions. The first series of the Delia Sessions features young talented Palestinian musicians singing primarily traditional Arabic songs in an intimate, acoustic concert setting shot in various cities of Palestine. The Delia Sessions music videos are available for free on the Delia Arts Foundation’s YouTube channel, as well as the Delia Arts Foundation’s website. The recordings of the sessions will be available on all streaming platforms shortly after each release.
The Delia Arts Foundation aims at creating positive change in the lives of musicians and their communities, while promoting the values of peace, tolerance, creativity and humanity. The Delia Sessions will embody these values through a series of new acoustic music videos which will cover popular and traditional Arabic songs with modern arrangements, and will be performed by young and rising artists from Rola Milad Azar (6 February 2020) to Milad Fatouleh (20 February 2020 and Lina Sleibi (3 March 2020). The Delia Arts Foundation launched the Delia Sessions to bring attention to the beautiful culture of the Palestinian region and to change the stereotypes most people have from reading the headlines about the country.
Founded in 2018 by John Keating, a songsmith, producer, and philanthropist also known as Johno, the Delia Foundation’s vision is to promote world peace through the arts by initiating and supporting projects that connect various communities and create a mutual creative language; enabling the professional development of young aspiring artists, regardless of their socio-economic background or geo-political situation, and support the creation of new musical artworks, inspired by the surroundings and situations the young artists are faced with, and aspiring to manifest positive change in the world. Johno himself, an accomplished guitar and piano player, performs on the Delia Sessions and produces these traditional Arabic tracks with modern arrangements to let a new generation of audiences re-discover the beauty of these classic songs.
“Inspired by NPR's Tiny Desk, and similar live session videos, we wanted to bring this great vibe and opportunity to Palestine”, says Johno, founder of the Delia Arts Foundation. “These wonderfully vibrant and charismatic artists are eager to have their voices and stories heard, and producing something as subtle and modern as these sessions makes them all the more accessible to a global audience.”
The Delia Arts Foundation launched the first video for the Delia Sessions today on 6 February 2020. The video features Rola Milad Azar, a 27 years old independent singer and musician from Nazareth and living in Jerusalem, who sings in musical concerts and festivals throughout the world. In the first Delia session, Rola sings Ya Mayla Alghossoun and Almaya Almaya, and discusses the condition of being a musician and living off your own music in Palestine.
“These are the world's most deserving and under-served artists,'' says Johno. “As a global music industry we have a great responsibility to help their message get across."
The Delia Arts Foundation encourages young artists and musicians in conflict zones to express themselves or showcase their talents outside of their region for new generations and new audiences globally, with the launch of a regular music video series celebrating and honouring traditional music through modern arrangements. For more information about the Delia Arts Foundation’s work and to start watching the Delia Sessions, visit www.delia-arts.org or check out Rola Milad Azar’s session on YouTube. And to become a patron of the Delia Arts Foundation and help transform the lives of talented musicians in conflict zones such as Palestine, visit https://www.patreon.com/deliaarts