About Awtaan
Awtaan Youth Choir is launching a new Arabic music choir for children in New York City. Our pilot season will run from October 2026 through April 2027. Awtaan is a community-led initiative co-developed by Zahra Alzubaidi, Alia Komsany, and Yasmin Alhassani, bringing together experience across Arabic music and performance, community engagement, education, and programme development. Zahra serves as the choir's Artistic Lead.

Who we are
Zahra Alzubaid - Artistic Lead
Zahra Alzubaidi is an Iraqi musician, vocalist, and cultural advocate with a passion for preserving and sharing Arabic musical traditions. As Artistic Lead of Awtaan Youth Choir, she leads the choir’s artistic direction, repertoire, and musical programming, creating an engaging environment for children to experience Arabic music and culture.

Alia Komsany - Co developer, Programme Development & Research
Alia Komsany is a population health researcher. Her work spans cancer prevention, epidemiology, and community-engaged research, with a focus on immigrant and underserved communities. A former national-team rower, she is passionate about community building, cultural connection, and representation. At Awtaan, she supports programme development, research and evaluation, implementation planning, and community engagement.

Yasmin Alhassani - Co developer, Business and operations
Yasmin Alhassani brings a background in business and finance, with experience supporting strategy, planning, and operations. She is passionate about building community-centered initiatives that create meaningful opportunities for families and children to connect. At Awtaan, she supports business planning, operations, and the development of a sustainable model for the programme.

Who it’s for
Kids ages 7–13. No prior singing experience is needed. The choir sings in Arabic, but children do not need to speak Arabic to take part.

Schedule
Rehearsals are held on select Sundays monthly (see dates below) from 2:00–4:00 PM in Manhattan. The pilot season runs from October 4, 2026 through April 4, 2027, followed by a year-end concert. The concert date will be announced during the season.

Practice-session dates:

October 4, 18
November 1, 8
December 6, 20
January 10, 24
February 7, 21
March 7, 21
April 4
Year-end concert: date TBA

Additional rehearsals may be scheduled in advance of the year-end concert if needed.

Cost
$600 for the season per child.

Registration
Registration opens Thursday, September 10 and closes September 22 at 11:59 PM.
Space is limited. Registrations will be accepted on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Once all available spaces are filled, additional registrants may join the waitlist. By registering, parents/guardians confirm that they have reviewed and agree to the applicable programme policies and registration terms.

Refund & Cancellation Policy*

Because reliable attendance is essential to the ensemble, refunds are front-loaded and taper quickly:

Through Oct 18, 2026: 50% refund of the season fee, minus the $25 fee.
After Oct 19, 2026: no refund; the full season fee is owed, including any remaining biannual installment. Withdrawing does not cancel the payment obligation (*exceptions may be considered on a case by case basis)

Program information & policies
After registering, you will receive additional guidance on rehearsal expectations, attendance and participation policies, parent/guardian responsibilities, payment/refund policies, consent and other programm requirements.

Awtaan

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