Constantinople

With the great master of the Spanish Renaissance, a truly golden age of polyphony came to light. They knew how to incorporate in a mainly French and Flemish context the tracks left by the Moores and Muslim cultures, so present in medieval Spain.

With Fahmi Alqhai, one of the greatest virtuoso of viola da gamba, and his Accademia del Piacere, an important ensemble of the Spanish early music, Constantinople started a musical journey between Iberian cultures and those from Perse and Central Asia, rediscovering music with sumptuous colours and a rare aesthetical richness.

Constantinople & Small World Music present: Crossing the Andes

This concert revisits Andean and South American music through 17^th– and 18^th-century manuscripts, including Codice Trujillo and Codice Luz y Norte. Some popular oral traditions are added to the above sources to enrich the musical repertoire, in the image of these bright and colorful people.

This project is supported financially by the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Conseil des Arts du Canada, and the Asociación ZINIA in Peru.

A rich and extraordinary musical journey through the ancient Andes — Constantinople and master Peruvian musicians explore the Martínez Compañón and Zuola codices.

Join us for a vibrant evening of discovery as the ensemble Constantinople, directed by Kiya Tabassian, together with its distinguished guests from Peru, delves into the rich musical memory of this land.

The music of the Andes and South America is the heir to pre-Hispanic musical traditions, enriched by the instruments and repertoires brought by the peoples who later settled in this “New World.” This encounter between profoundly different cultures gave rise to remarkable musical works, rediscovered today in 17th- and 18th-century codices such as those of Martínez Compañón and Zuola.

Yet this memory does not live only in manuscripts; it continues through oral and popular traditions, passed down from generation to generation, whose rhythms and melodies still resonate across South America. A true bridge between worlds, this music weaves a magnificent tapestry of sound where history, identity, and living imagination converge.

This project is supported financially by the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Conseil des Arts du Canada, and the Asociación ZINIA in Peru.

This concert revisits Andean and South American music through 17^th– and 18^th-century manuscripts, including Codice Trujillo and Codice Luz y Norte. Some popular oral traditions are added to the above sources to enrich the musical repertoire, in the image of these bright and colorful people.

This project is supported financially by the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Conseil des Arts du Canada, and the Asociación ZINIA in Peru.

ACCROSS THE ANDES

Exploring the Musical Heritage of Peru

The music of the Andes and South America is heir to pre-His­panic musical traditions, which were enriched by the contribu­tion of instruments and repertoires of the peoples who settled the lands of this “New World.” This interaction between vastly different cultures gave rise to the most remarkable music, which was rediscovered in codices from the 16th and 17th centuries and which have seen the addition of pieces from oral and popular tra­ditions that were passed down from one generation to the next. We invite you to a musical evening filled with light and colour, in the company of Constantinople’s musicians and Federico Tarazona, one of the greatest virtuosos of the most symbolic and representative instrument of Andean music, the charango.

This project is supported financially by the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Conseil des Arts du Canada, and the Asociación ZINIA in Peru.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

As part of the Istanbul Music Festival, Constantinople takes over one of the city’s most historically rich venues: the Grand Bazaar. A crossroads of trade routes for centuries, this iconic space hosts the concert “Fleeting Beauties” — an invitation to experience music as a fleeting and precious encounter between different eras and geographies.

The programme features music ranging from the Italian Renaissance to Ottoman and Iranian repertoires, brought together for one evening to reveal the fragile beauty of each musical moment. Alongside counter-tenor Marco Beasley, Constantinople explores this living plurality in which each work exists fully only in the moment of its performance.

A unique concert, at the heart of a unique place.

A luminous encounter of kindred musicians: between poetry and inspired musical dialogue.

With this ensemble that has traveled the world’s stages for over a decade, strings and voices embody the beauty of Persian and Mandinka music. Master of the kora Ablaye Cissoko and setâr player Kiya Tabassian immerse us in a gentle sonic reverie. A musical conversation at its finest, elevated by the rhythms and subtleties of percussionist Patrick Graham. Inspired by the estuary—this space of transition and transformation—three exceptional artists craft a vast palette of colors with cosmopolitan accents.