Two monumental Berber artists who’ve returned to the fore of the international scene arrive at this year’s Festival on a special double bill to share their music for the first time in the United States.
on July 18th 2009. TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!!!!
lincolncenter.org/show_events_list.asp?eventcode=20614
(Najat will also perform Millennium Park in Chicago on July 16th)

BIOS
The Algerian-born Paris-based singer-songwriter Idir (Hamid Cheriet) first captured attention accidentally from a stand-in performance of the tender “A Vava inouva” on national radio in 1973. His rendition has gone on to be translated into more than seven languages, making this unassuming musician a leading voice of the Berber culture and identity (kabyle), garnering attention not only from traditional fans but also from a new generation of younger admirers for his recent hip hop collaborations.

Originally from Morocco, Najat Aatabou defied the societal norms of her country and even her family by pursuing a career in music, her ascendancy to icon status as the “Queen of Chaabi” marked by songs that fearlessly and sometimes controversially protest against gender inequality. A vigorous advocate for women’s rights, Aatabou’s anthemic “Just Tell Me the Truth” was sampled by the British electronic-music duo Chemical Brothers for their 2005 hit “Galvanize.”