Chicago Immigrant Orchestra

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courtesy Chicago Immigrant Orchestra

The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra on stage.

The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra

The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra was originally conceived as a one-time event for the first Chicago World Music Festival in 1999; the original ensemble, led by Willy Schwarz, regrouped for a few other concerts before disbanding in 2004. The concept was brought back in 2019, this time helmed by guitarist Fareed Haque and oudist Wanees Zarour, who have assembled a 20-piece group of Chicagoans representing musical traditions from around the world. This BlueStem Jazz concert is a rare chance to hear the Chicago Immigrant Orchestra outside the Chicagoland area.

DIRECTORS:

Fareed Haque - Guitars

Wanees Zarour - Oud

ORCHESTRA:

Tamir Hargana - Mongolian Throat Singing/Horsehair Fiddle

TzuTsen Wu - Chinese Ruan

Juan Pastor (Peru) - Cajon/Percussion

Richard Christian (India) - Tabla/Percussion

Paul Cotton - African Djembe/Percussion

Ugochi Nwaogwugwu (Nigeria) - Voice

Sam Teheri (Iran) - Voice 

Jai Sovani (India) - Voice

C Mikhail - Bass

Jason Schmidt - Sound

Bryan Pardo (Bulgaria) - Clarinet/Reeds