Last season, Palestinian oud virtuoso Bakr Khleifi thrilled Pierre Boulez Saal audiences in a duo with kamancheh player Misagh Joolaee. The Berlinbased artist now presents a new solo program of original com positions and improvisation that explores connections between the Arabic maqam tradition and musical forms of the European Baroque.
Keywords: Arab and Persian Music
| Khleifi Bakr | Oud |
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Those who understand themselves and others Will come to realize: Orient and Occident Can no longer be separated. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, West-Eastern Divan And they never could, one might like to add. Jordi Savall is an artist who has long made this case—in his multifaceted work, he has repeatedly drawn connections between the music of the European Middle Ages or Renaissance and diverse Arab, Persian, and Northern African musical traditions, which influenced each other over the course of centuries in transcultural hubs across the Mediterranean. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, he is joined by oud player Waed Bouhassoun, leader of the ensemble Orpheus 21, which was founded by Savall, and members of Hespèrion XXI.
Persian and European classical music, traditional songs from Turkey and Azerbaijan, jazz, and more: the Joolaee Trio’s concert programs combine a range of diverse musical influences. In their unusual lineup consisting of kamancheh player and leader Misagh Joolaee, percussionist Sebastian Flaig, and pianist Schaghajegh Nosrati—who will also be heard at the Pierre Boulez Saal with a solo recital in February—they perform original compositions and newly created arrangements.
In the early 20th century, Armenian philosopher, mystic, and composer George Gurdjieff traveled widely in the Caucasus, Middle East, Northern Africa, and Asia. He later transformed his experiences of the diverse local musical traditions he encountered into numerous compositions, most of which have only been accessible in piano transcriptions. Led by artistic director Levon Eskenian, the Gurdjieff Ensemble performs these works in new arrangements for traditional instruments, while also highlighting the centuries-old tradition of Armenian ashughs (bards) such as Jivani, Baghdasar Dbir, and Sayat-Nova.
For his first Pierre Boulez Saal appearance as a leader, Canadian guitarist and oud player Gordon Grdina has assembled an international group of artists from diverse musical traditions who perform together for the first time. RU’YA (“foresight” or “vision” in Arabic), featuring Belgian-Tunisian vocalist Ghalia Benali, blends sound, poetry, and the human voice in an experimental musical setting that bridges continents, cultures, and genres. Inspired by poems from Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Tunisia, Egypt, and Belgium, RU’YA creates a musical world of unity, joy, and shared humanity.
Born in Palestine and based in Europe since 2002, composer, singer, and musician Kamilya Jubran is among the leading figures of the experimental Arabic music scene. For her Pierre Boulez Saal debut, she per forms two contrasting sets: Together with her longtime musical partner, Swiss trumpet player and sound artist Werner Hasler, she presents Extend WA, an exploration of improvised musical dialogue born out of their album WA (“and” in Arabic). For the concert’s second half, the duo is joined by cellist Soizic Lebrat and bassist Charlotte Testu, collaborators from Jubran’s project Terrae Incognitae featuring female musicians from different backgrounds, in the world premiere of a new piece titled Bast (Arabic for “expanding” or “widening”).
Syrian composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh brings his New York–based Kinan Azmeh CityBand back to the Pierre Boulez Saal. Crossing boundaries between styles and genres, between composition and improvisa tion, the quartet plays “music that is inspired by a multitude of traditions without being limited by any of them,” as Azmeh describes it. The concert is part of a German tour celebrating the release of the band’s new album Live in Berlin, recorded at the Pierre Boulez Saal in 2021.
The Ramal Ensemble returns to the Pierre Boulez Saal to present a program centered around the idea of real and imaginary journeys. Originally founded in Damascus, the group reassembled in Germany in 2015 and counts several Barenboim-Said Akademie alumni among its members. No strangers to the experience of cultural mobility, the five musicians have cultivated a unique sound and will perform original compositions as well as improvised music. At the Fringe of Time is part of the Ramal Ensemble’s concert series “Creative Music Lab II.” A project of Barzakh gGmbH, supported by the Capital Cultural Fund.
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