Ensemble Ikhlas is a group created in 1989 and directed by Wafae Laasri, a musician graduated from the Conservatory of Tetouan. Composed of three men (playing the oud and the violin) and six women (singing, violin and percussion), this troupe offers to the arab woman a place as an instrumentalist musician, as does the tetouane tradition. Formerly, if a Moroccan woman wanted to make a career in music, she had to choose singing, dancing or possibly percussion. Melodic instruments were reserved for men. But in Tetouan, an exception allowed women to practice music in the privacy of their homes.
Ensemble Ikhlas sings mainly cheerful pieces, following the tradition of female music, unlike male orchestras that favours long and meditative sequences. By its talent, the subtlety of its repertoire (Moroccan heritage and Arab-Andalusian composition), Wafae Laasri’s group is by far the most famous women’s orchestra from Tetouan both in Morocco and in foreign countries.
Available album: Songs of rejoicing