Event Details
Middle Eastern Night with The Shavarsh Kef Ensemble and Alhan Middle Eastern Music Ensemble
Saturday 02.27.2010, Doors at 7:30 PM, Starts at 8:00 PM, $10, 18+
Buy tickets here or visit any Bull Moose Music location.
The Shavarsh Kef Ensemble carries on a Maine tradition of Middle Eastern music started by the late master musician Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian. The ensemble consists of five musicians who have played with, studied with and been inspired by Al: Eric LaPerna, percussion, Amos Libby, oud, Beth Borgerhoff, accordion, Michael Gallant, violin and Steve Gruverman, clarinet. They continue to play a rich mixture of Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Arabic folk and classical music. Alhan Middle Eastern Music Ensemble's repertoire is drawn from compositions of some of the preeminent composers of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. They also perform Muwashshahat, a classical song form developed in 10th century Andalusia and performed throughout the modern Arab world. The group features Eric LaPerna; riqq and darbuka, Tom Kovacevic; oud, nay and vocals, Madeleine Hanna; lead vocals and frame drum and Michael Gallant; violin. All of the members have studied with some of the leading performers of Middle Eastern Music in the world today, including Simon Shaheen, Bassam Saba, Michel Merhej and the late Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian.
ALHAN Middle Eastern Music Ensemble performs classical and popular Arabic and Ottoman music of the 17th to the 21st centuries. The group features Eric LaPerna; riqq and darbuka, Tom Kovacevic; oud, nay and vocals, Madeleine Hanna; lead vocals and frame drum and Michael Gallant; violin. All of the members have studied with some of the leading performers of Middle Eastern Music in the world today, including Simon Shaheen, Bassam Saba, Michel Merhej and the late Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian. Alhan’s repertoire is drawn from compositions of some of the preeminent composers of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. They also perform Muwashshahat, a classical song form developed in 10th century Andalusia and performed throughout the modern Arab world.
The group plays a number of instruments unique to Arabic music. The oud, on which the theory is given, is a short necked, fretless lute. The riqq is basically a well made tambourine which has a very developed technique including multiple hand positions and ways of striking the head and cymbals. The nay is a rim blown bamboo flute which traces its ancestry back to Sumer. One of the distinct features of both Arabic and Ottoman music is the advanced system of maqamat or modes built on tetra chords and microtonal intervals. This system divides the western diatonic scale of 12 semi tones into “quarter” tones. There are dozens of modes in current use as compared with the two basic modes of western music, major and minor. The advanced system of taqasim or improvisation distinctive of Middle Eastern Music is based on this maqam system. The music also uses a number of iqa’at or rhythmic modes with patterns of five, seven, ten and eleven as common as three and four and measures that run to the considerable length of twenty eight, forty four, etc… beats. Arabic music, through its microtonal scales and complex meters is capable of an almost unlimited range of melodic and expressive possibility
The members of Alhan bring many varied musical backgrounds to their exciting interpretation of Middle Eastern Music. They strive to present authentic versions with a contemporary flare. Their approach combines the diverse characteristics of the music, intricately composed and full of improvisation and ranging in mood inspired by sublime melodies and rich timbres to spirited dance rhythms. Alhan has continued to both educate and delight audiences with some of the great variety of classical, contemporary and folk traditions of the Middle East.