Tri-County News

Paramount presents Somali musician


The Paramount Center for the Arts is excited to announce a week-long residency featuring famed Somali musician, Aar Maanta. This is the fourth residency in a three-year program, Midnimo, originated by The Cedar Cultural Center and Augsburg University and now includes The Paramount Center for the Arts, St. Cloud State University; and Minnesota State University, Mankato Department of Music Performance Series.

From Oct. 7 – 13, Somali musician Aar Maanta will be in
St. Cloud taking part in a broad array of residency programming, culminating in a public concert on the Paramount stage on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m.

Aar Maanta was scheduled to be in St. Cloud last October, however because of visa delays, his tour was cancelled last-minute. This cancellation has created a heightened excitement now that he is able to come to the US, thanks to acquiring a year-long visa from the American Embassy in London, his current residence.

Aar Maanta is considered to be the voice of the new Somali generation and is revered as one of the most creative and talented Somali musicians today, both in the Horn of Africa and for the Somali people scattered throughout the world. Recognized for his engagement with social causes and education, in 2017, Aar Maanta was selected by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to participate in a multilingual music video campaign called Dangerous Crossings to spread awareness about the dangers faced by immigrants attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea from Africa into Yemen. The video was directed by Hollywood producer George Acogny and Egyptian director Amr Salama in collaboration with the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA) in Monaco. Most recently in April, Aar was one of five international Somali artists to be honored by Oslo’s House of Literature for creating new standards for how to write literature and innovatively carrying on their history and culture.

With his band, The Urban Nomads, Aar Maanta hopes to take his music not only to the Somali people, but also to the wider community with an album in the works to be released in 2018.

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