The Olin Arts Center is excited to bring this inspirational and energetic Moroccan-based group that blends traditional and modern instrumentation (and inspiration) all while singing in Arabic!

Saïd Tichiti, who is of Berber origin on his mother’s side and black African on his father’s side, founded Chalaban in 1999 in Budapest (Hungary). The diversity of the group’s sound is defined by the musician’s Afro-Arab roots, with their lively, exuberant Moroccan music enhanced by elements of Carpathian Basin, Roma and Balkan music. Said is originally from the city of Guelmim in the south of Morocco. After his baccalaureate, he moved to Rabat in 1991 to pursue his education at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts and Cultural Animation (ISADAC). With his ISADAC diploma in hand, Saïd Tichiti left Morocco in 1996 for postgraduate studies in France, after receiving a scholarship issued by the French government.

Being a melting pot of different nationalities, Chalaban aims to act as a vessel of the ancestral musical education he had been acquiring since childhood. “I don’t just play music and greet my audience before I disappear. I create a conversation with this audience; I talk to them about the origins of my music, my hometown. My performances are music with mini-conferences.”

Chalaban quickly became a reference group in a musical style categorized in Hungary as Arab and North African. “For our first concert in 1999, the director of the French Institute in Budapest at that time offered us to play the support of Rachid Taha’s show. After this concert, we got invitations all over Hungary. A year later, we released our first album.”

Naturally, Chalaban has played their captivating musical mixture to great acclaim not just in Hungary but throughout Europe, Morocco and elsewhere. Their music is also featured in the 2018 documentary film “Échos du Sahara”, which examines the 20-year career of the band’s leader. The film sees Saïd return from Budapest to the Sahara Desert, where he draws inspiration from the spiritual Hassani culture and presents a fruitful encounter of diverse musical traditions.

Chalaban released 6 albums:
2000: Moroccan Nomad / Orphea Bt
2002 : Al Baraka / Fono Records
2004: Moroccan Spring /NarRator Records
2006: Nejdeb / NarRator Records
2009: Hashish Freee / NarRator Records
2017: Gleimim: / NarRator Records (presented in October 2017 in a sold out concert in the Palace of Art (MÜPA) in Budapest.

Presented by the Olin Concert Series.

This event is FREE, but reservations required.

The Bates College Department of Music is excited to announce that departmentally hosted concerts, indoors and out, are officially open to the public for fully vaccinated individuals, masks required. Please read our Concert Attendance Policy for more information.