Shumaila Hemani Workshop (containR Fest)

New Works Calgary is Featuring a a workshop with local Sufi singer-songwriter Shumaila Hemanion. 

For many centuries, Muslim mystics following the spiritual dimension of Islam called the tasawwuf have extended the message of love, religious tolerance, and harmony within diverse groups in their settings alongside promoting equity and inclusion. In this workshop, we will learn about these Sufi expressions in sound and movement from Egypt, Turkey, to Pakistan and India with hands-on learning to sing a Sufi poem from the South Asian tradition of qawwali, called Chap Tilak by the poet Amir Khusrow in a South Asian melodic mode from the North, called Raag Aiman. As a result of this workshop, you will have deeper insights into the Sufi spiritual tradition and the ways in which it empowers and brings hope to diverse cultures.

About Shumaila Hemani:
Staying rooted within and honouring traditional forms alongside bringing in experimentation, Shumaila Hemani, Ph.D. in Music from the University of Alberta, is an Alberta-based Sufi singer-songwriter, and poet. Her composition: Perils of Heavy Rainfall received Second Prize at the Listening During COVID contest by the Canadian Association of Sonic Ecology (CASE) and the pioneering Canadian soundscape composer Hildegard Westerkamp applauded her for beautifully taking the listeners to an immersive world of different music, chanting, and drones. Hemani’s Sufi poem, Living with Purpose, has been nominated for the Alberta Magazine Awards, Anticipating was featured in the Cross-Canada tour for Suicide Prevention Awareness and Hope, and Perils of Heavy Rainfall will be published in the Goose, Journal of Environment, Arts, and Culture (2022). Hemani will release her debut album, Mannat: The Epic of Sassui and Punhun in Fall 2022. Sh has been on faculty at Semester at Sea and the University of Alberta.