People who make music together cannot be enemies.
That’s what Jewish reggae singer-songwriter Matisyahu, a former ultra-orthodox Jew, and acoustic hip-hop artist Nadim Azzam, whose father is Egyptian-Palestinian and mother is an American Jew, are aiming for on their campus tour across America.
Although Matisyahu will perform Sunday in Stamp Student Union with his full band, featuring guitarist Aaron Dugan, bassist Stu Brooks, percussionist Tim Keiper and keyboardist BigYuki, it won’t look like a regular concert, per se. It won’t follow the format of a typical performance, because Matisyahu is known to improvise and sometimes even change lyrics on the fly.
“I don’t write a set list,” he said. “It really depends on how I feel on the night. I don’t know which songs I’m gonna play. I don’t necessarily play my popular songs.”
The concert will open with a solo by Azzam.
Azzam was raised “with a keen sense of social justice and indiscriminating love for others of different cultural backgrounds,” according to a news release. With a Jewish mother and an Egyptian-Palestinian father, he sees both sides of the conflict, but his goal while on tour is not to convince anyone to take sides — “It’s to build a basic human connection.”
The campus tour is the first time the two will perform together. It will include 12 schools, starting with Boston University and ending with the University of California, San Diego. Maryland Hillel was offered the opportunity to host the duo at the end of last semester, and it jumped at the chance, Assistant Director Maiya Chard-Yaron said.
“It’s a tour and a concert, but specifically … it’s about the power of music to bring people together, and we just thought it was a really good message for our campus,” Chard-Yaron said.
This upcoming weekend also happens to be the National Hillel Basketball Tournament, which means many students from all over the country will also have the opportunity to attend this concert.
“Tickets have been selling really quickly [and] people are super excited,” said senior secondary education and English major Julia Ring, president of the Jewish Student Union. “He’s a pretty famous guy, especially in Jewish circles, but even in non-Jewish circles, he’s … a prominent artist.”
The concert will be sponsored by Maryland Hillel, the National Hillel Basketball Tournament, the Office of Multicultural Involvement & Community Advocacy and the Jewish Student Union and will be co-sponsored by three Hillel student groups — Terps for Israel, J Street UMD and Terpim— as well as the Muslim Students Association.
“Obviously, a campus concert tour can’t address all of society’s issues and resolve a conflict like this,” Azzam said. “What I think it can do is help both sides humanize each other and to find common ground.”
He added: “Life is hard for everyone. If I can make anyone’s a little easier by relating to them or letting them relate to me, that’s all that matters.”
The concert will take place Sunday at 8 p.m. in the Stamp Grand Ballroom. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $5 for students or $18 for community members. Tickets available at umdtickets.com.
