Events Calendar

Mariela Shaker: Art and Advocacy, a Recital and Talk

April 08 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Center for the Fine Arts, Kresge Recital Hall

This event is open to the public.

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Mariela Shaker was born in Aleppo, Syria, and began playing the violin at the age of 10 when she joined the Arabic Institute of Music. In 2013, she fled the conflict in Syria, coming to the United States through the IIE initiative addressing the crisis in higher education in Syria to complete an undergraduate degree, with a major in music, in Illinois, graduating in 2015. She received a Master's in Music Performance from DePaul University in 2017.

Mariela uses her music to build bridges and promote peace, raising awareness of the plight of refugees and students from conflict zones. In 2015, she was invited by the UNHCR to perform at the Kennedy Center in celebration of World Refugee Day. At the White House in that same year she was named a Champion of Change for World Refugees by President Barack Obama. She now uses her music as a way to build bridges and promote peace and awareness for the plight of the Syrian people. She was named a High Profile Supporter for the UNHCR in 2017. In 2018 she received the first Anne Frank Promisekeeper Award.

Mariela has performed and spoken at:

• The White House
• Brookings Institute
• United Nations (Geneva)
• Arab American Institute
• Georgetown University
• Harvard
• MIT
• Aspen Ideas Festival (Colorado)
• Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
• King's College Chapel (Cambridge)
• The Barbican Centre (London)
• Beyond Borders International Festival (Scotland)
• The headquarters of World Relief and the International Rescue Committee (refugee resettlement organizations)
• And a variety of venues around the world

She has been profiled by the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, Women's Day and many other media outlets.

Knox College is a member of the IIE consortium addressing the crisis in higher education in Syria.