Wanees Zarour is a Palestinian-American music composer and director. He leads the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago, a 60-piece orchestra that plays Arabic, Turkish, and Iranian music. As Zarour prepares the orchestra for its Turkish concert, he takes us on a journey of two parallel narratives—the preparations and rehearsals for the show, as well as the story of his musical upbringing in Palestine told through a phone call with his mother.