Lebanese soprano-composer Hiba Kawas has set Arabic arias for soprano and piano; Lashou Jina and Boukra Btikbari to texts of Ragheda Mahfouz, Limatha Nuhawilu Hatha Assafar, poetry by Mahmoud Darwish, (1992), Min Ghiabika La Yahda'u Ellail, poetry by Hamza Abboud, (1996).
[1] Israeli composer Tsippi Fleischer's settings in Arabic include Ballad of Expected Death in Cairo, for mezzo-soprano, 2 violins, viola & piano, A Girl Dreamt She Was a Butterfly, for mixed chorus a capella, and Like Two Branches, cantata for chamber choir, 2 oboes, kanun, cello, & tar-drums.
She also rearranged Arabic traditional folk songs on a contemporary classical music basis.
Variations on Imaginary Folk Dances (string orchestra and voice) was commissioned and performed by Kremerata Baltica at Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria (2012, Arab-Baltic Spring).
Both pieces are based on Middle Eastern folk music, and yet expressed in contemporary style, rendered by the Lebanese Alto Fadia Tomb El Hage.