Midwest Mahjar: The Recorded Sounds of the Arabic-Speaking Diaspora in the United States at 78 RPM

  Rev. Boutros Kahwagee (Pedro Kahwagi): The Recovered Voice of an Arab-Mexican Maronite Priest Rev. Pedro Kahwagi, c. 1939. The Day 9 May 1939. Courtesy of Newspapers.com Most of the recording artists we’ve featured on Midwest Mahjar have been people who immigrated to the United States in some capacity or were born in the United States. Exceptions, however, have included Nourhane , Sami el-Shawwa , and Prince Mohiuddin . The 78 RPM disc with singing by "Rev. Boutros Kahwagee" threw us for a loop! We pruchased the disc in December 2021. There was no indication of where Kahwagee/Kahwagi recorded any music. It could have been in Syria, Lebanon, the United States, or some other country. During an initial search, we hit an immediate dead end. There was no "Boutros Kahwagee" we could find who lived in any part of the United States. Newspapers and Ancestry.com searches revealed very little. Consequently, we put this disc to the side and focused on other musicians and rec

  The Remarkable but Little-known Musical Career of Boston’s Helen Salem Rizk Philbrook Helen Salem Rizk, The Caravan , 03 November 1960. Courtesy of Newspapers.com Here at Midwest Mahjar, we have come to reflect on the amount of time we’ve spent in Boston, Massachusetts - actually and metaphorically. In our undergraduate days, the trek from Hanover, New Hampshire, to Boston provided two hours of excitement and entertainment.  In Boston, there was the historic Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial, and the monument dedicated to Crispus Attucks and the victims of the Boston Massacre. More recently, our connection to Boston has been through its Historic Syriantown community and the musical scene that emerged from it. We’ve written about G.S. Maloof , Anton Abdelahad , Ronnie Kirby , Tony Tawa , Lila Stephen , Najeeba Morad , Ramza Abdelahad, Yvonne Maalouf Rahwan, and Mathilda Dada Stephens . All lived most of their lives in and around Boston metro. Th