ITHACA, N.Y. -- On Saturday evening, Feb. 21, internationally renowned musician Yair Dalal will return to Ithaca for a performance of his unique style of Middle Eastern music. The concert, "Iraqi-Jewish Desert Music From Israel," features Dalal, accompanied by top Israeli percussionist Avi Agababa, with guest appearances by members of the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble. It takes place at 8 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church of Ithaca.

Nominated for a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award as Best Artist from the Middle East, Dalal has mesmerized audiences with his oud and violin playing at festivals and concert halls around the world (the oud is a short-necked, pear-shaped lute). While in Ithaca, Dalal also will offer a master class with the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in 124 Lincoln Hall on Cornell University's campus. The class, which is co-sponsored by Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies, is free and open to anyone who wants to observe.

"It's marvelous music, and we are fortunate that Yair's visit to Ithaca includes teaching our students more about it," said Martin Hatch, associate professor of music at Cornell.

Dalal, whose Iraqi Jewish family immigrated from Baghdad to Israel in the 1950s, has used his music as a cultural bridge and a tool to support peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. At a time of heightened conflict between Jews and Arabs, Dalal is credited with affirming the role of Arabic music in the lives of Iraqi Jews, who are now among its most prominent performers, composers and supporters through his efforts. He also often includes Arab musicians in his performances, and he has underscored his belief in the need for peace in the Middle East through such concerts as Shalom/Salaam in Oslo in 1994.

Dalal's efforts to forge peaceful connections through music mesh with those of the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble. The group is a multicultural mix of students, staff and community members of many faiths, including Christian, Muslim and Jewish, and many backgrounds, including Turkish, Greek and Persian. "We are privileged to be able to work with a master musician of Yair's caliber and reaffirm his efforts to bridge rifts through musical collaboration," said Nikolai Ruskin, musical director of the ensemble.Dalal has played with renowned Nubian oud master Hamza El-din, the Israeli Philharmonic's Zubin Mehta and the rock band Los Lobos, as well as with Bedouin musicians in the desert regions of Israel and Sinai. In the United States, he has given concerts at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and at Symphony Space and Lincoln Center in New York City, among other places. He also has toured Spain, England and France and performed in Greece, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey. In his last visit to Ithaca, in March 2002, Dalal played to an appreciative audience in a packed Muller Chapel as part of Hillel at Ithaca College's Jewish Life and the Arts series. Ruskin was among those who performed with him.

Founded in 2002, the Cornell Middle Eastern Music Ensemble meets once a week to learn a selection of music from different areas in the Middle East and study the theory behind it, said Ruskin. The music has a fresh, improvisational quality, with "a single melody line, ornamented or embellished according to the feel of the music passages, the musicians' instruments and abilities," he explained. Ensemble members play a range of instruments, including the oud ; qanoun (a laptop zither); nay (end-blown cane flute); keman (violin); Arabic accordion; clarinet; riq (tambourine), darbukka (single-sided goblet drum) and duf (frame drum).

Tickets for Dalal's Feb. 21 concert are $18 in advance; $22 at the door; $10 for students. They are on sale at Ithaca Guitar Works, DeWitt Mall, Seneca and Cayuga streets; Small World Music, 614 W. State St.; and Greenstar Cooperative Market, Fulton and W. Buffalo streets. For more information, contact agutman@ithaca.edu . For more on the Dalal, see http://www.yairdalal.com .