Nawal now lives in France, but her music comes from her native Comoros Islands, off the southeastern coast of Africa, near Madagascar. Her soulful music draws on her background as a Muslim woman growing up in diverse cultures: Indo-Arabian-Persian music meets Bantu polyphonies, and the syncopated rhythms and Sufi trance of the Indian Ocean. Nawal is a powerful singer in Comoran, French, Arabic, and English; she also plays the guitar, the Comoran gambusi (similar to the banjo and oud), daf (frame drum), and other instruments. This is Nawal’s second appearance at Lotus; her first was in 2005. Sponsored by Women of Lotus; IU African Studies Program
Saturday, Sept. 24
8:45-10 pm / First United Methodist Church
Sunday, Sept. 25
2:30-3:30 pm / Buskirk-Chumley Theater
