At the historic Tempio di San Michele Arcangelo in Perugia, Italy, Christian and Islamic mystical traditions met through the musical language of maqām in an evening centered on a theme shared across centuries of spiritual thought: Divine Love.
On September 26, 2026, the Maqām Festival Ensemble performed at the 81st Sagra Musicale Umbra, presenting “Dell’Amore divino,” a maqām oratorio built around mystical poetry from Christianity and Islam.
The performance featured Prof. Nidaa Abou Mrad, Dean of Antonine University’s (UA) Faculty of Music and Musicology (FMM), on composition, direction, and violin; Rafka Rizk on vocals and riq; and Dr. Ghassan Sahhab on qānūn. The evening was introduced by Dr. Paolo Scarnecchia.
Following its presentation in Perugia, this musical and spiritual journey now continues in Lebanon. On October 6, as part of UA’s Wellness and Mental Health Week, The Levantine Oratorio of Divine Love and Hope will bring the encounter between maqām music, spiritual poetry, faith, and hope to the University community.
Divine Love Across Spiritual Traditions
“Dell’Amore divino” brought together writings spanning centuries and spiritual traditions, drawing on texts by Saint Paul, Rābi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, al-Ḥusayn ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj, Saint Francis of Assisi, and Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn ‘Arabī.
Through composition, chant, and vocal and instrumental improvisation, these voices entered into dialogue within the expressive framework of maqām music, creating a movement between poetry, contemplation, and spiritual expression.
The performance formed part of the 81st Sagra Musicale Umbra, held from September 19 to October 3 and organized by Fondazione Perugia Musica Classica ETS. Founded in 1937, the festival has long given particular attention to sacred music and compositions of strong spiritual significance.
Within this setting, the Maqām Festival Ensemble brought the maqām art music tradition of the Mašriq into conversation with a festival whose history has been closely connected to sacred musical expression.
Maqām Heritage Across Borders
The performance in Perugia also gave international artistic expression to the collaboration between Antonine University and the Maqām Festival (Multaqā Al-Mūsīqā Al-Maqāmiyya).
In June 2026, UA and the Maqām Festival signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen academic, cultural, and artistic cooperation in maqām music. The partnership supports scientific research, artistic production, knowledge exchange, and joint initiatives dedicated to preserving, studying, and transmitting the modal system and its musical traditions.
Bringing this heritage to an international stage allows maqām music to encounter new audiences while remaining rooted in the scholarship, artistic practice, and cultural memory through which it continues to evolve.
From Perugia to UA: The Journey Continues
On October 6, the journey continues at Antonine University with The Levantine Oratorio of Divine Love and Hope, composed by Prof. Abou Mrad and presented as part of the fifth edition of Wellness and Mental Health Week, held this year under the theme “The Power of Hope: Let Your Mind and Heart Bloom.”
Performed by the Antonine University Ensemble of Classical Arabic Music, and featuring almost the same musicians who performed in Perugia, the Oratorio will bring Christian and Islamic spiritual traditions into dialogue through vocal and instrumental compositions and improvisations rooted in the maqām music tradition of the Mašriq.
From Divine Love in Perugia to Divine Love and hope at UA, the two performances trace a musical journey across traditions and borders, inviting audiences to encounter spiritual poetry not only as a heritage to be preserved, but as a living source of reflection, dialogue, and human connection.
Photography: Claudia Ioan – Music & Stage Photography © 2026 for Fondazione Perugia Musica Classica. All rights reserved.