JUNO Award-Profitable Ensemble Constantinople Focuses On The Work Of Dimitrie Cantemir

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Chamber music ensemble Constantinople (Photo courtesy of the artist)
Constantinople (Photograph courtesy of the artist)

Constantinople, current JUNO Award winners, are bringing and strange program of music by little recognized Ottoman composer Dimitrie Cantemir to Toronto. The Montreal-based ensemble will probably be performing on the Aga Khan Museum on April 19.

Cantemir’s music will probably be carried out together with items by his contemporaries, equivalent to Marin Marais from France, or Italy’s Antonio Bertali.

Who’s Dimitrie Cantemir?

Prince, statesman, and man of letters, Dimitire Cantemir was born in 1673, though there’s some dispute concerning the actual date, and died in Russia in 1723. Throughout his 49 years, he served as vovoide (an elected warlord) of Moldavia, now a part of Romania, twice.

Whereas his political exploits had their ups and downs, and resulted in his exile to Russia, he was additionally recognized for his mental talents. He may converse 11 languages, and wrote a number of scientific books. His Historical past of the Development and Decay of Ottoman Empire served because the mannequin for Edward Gibbon’s later Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

He’s credited with writing the primary Romanian novel in 1705.

When it got here to music, he wrote about 40 compositions within the Ottoman fashion, and a few are nonetheless carried out in Turkey. He additionally transcribed and revealed about 350 conventional instrumental items in a set titled “Edvar-i Musiki”. The gathering is a useful glimpse into Ottoman and Center Japanese music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A couple of of his works have been recorded.

The Musicians

Constantinople takes its inspiration from its namesake metropolis, usually referred to as a bridge between East and West. The ensemble was based in 2001 by creative director, Kiya Tabassian.

Constantinople has recorded 20 albums on varied labels, together with the current award-winner, Il Ponte di Leonardo. They’ve created some 60 unique works, and toured to 290 cities in 57 nations. Their objective is to create music with a way of group that encourages cross-cultural collaborations and exchanges.

They carry out works that incorporate components from various musical traditions, from medieval Europe to the up to date world, and from Mediterranean Europe to Japanese traditions and New World Baroque.

Kiya Tabassian is a grasp of the setar, a kind of Persian lute. He emigrated to Canada on the age of 14, and pursued his research of Persian music at the same time as he studied on the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He has carved out a singular profession with a world profile.

Different members of Constantinople embrace Didem Basar on the kanun (or Turkish zither), who studied and earned her bachelor’s diploma in composition on the Istanbul Turkish Music State Conservatory, the place she first started to review on the age of 11.

Montrealer Patrick Graham is a percussionist, improviser, composer and teacher. He has studied and carried out kinds from up to date Western percussion, the body drumming traditions of the Mediterranean and Center-East, South Indian rhythm and Japanese taiko.

Tanya LaPerrière is a graduated violin grasp of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, together with McGill College. Along with Constantinople, she is co-solo violin of Arion orchestra. Iranian-Canadian drummer Hamin Honaria specializes within the Persian hand drums Tombak & Daf.

  • Discover extra details about the live performance, and tickets, [HERE].

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