All the concerts

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.

Djalaleddine Rumi (1207-1273), with his body of work encompassing over 100,000 lines of verse, left us an immutable treasure that reflects a refined and luminous understanding of the world.

“Never was there a man who sought so much”
700 years since the death of Marco Polo

Marco Polo did not go to Asia for wealth, power, and honours, but to discover a form of civilization. The Travels of Marco Polo narrates a journey of knowledge more than a conquest. “Never was there a man who sought so much” draws inspiration from this belief, creating a concert-reading of music, images, and words that follows the diverse routes of Marco Polo’s travels in the Far East, including a passage through Persian lands. Alternating with the pages in Franco-Venetian language from The Travels, selected and read by Sandro Cappelletto, are the musical improvisations of two masters of Persian music: Kayhan Kalhor, the legendary kamancheh player, a bowed instrument of the Iranian tradition, and Kiya Tabassian, a setar player, the Persian lute.

re:Orient immerses us at the crossroad of the fascinating aesthetics of Korean Pansori and Persian music, exploring these two “Orients” rich in cultures and sophisticated millennial musical heritages.

re:Orient immerses us at the crossroad of the fascinating aesthetics of Korean Pansori and Persian music, exploring these two “Orients” rich in cultures and sophisticated millennial musical heritages.

This musical adventure takes us onto the Silk Road, following the steps of the celebrated Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who set out for China in the 13th century.

This musical adventure takes us onto the Silk Road, following the steps of the celebrated Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who set out for China in the 13th century.

Marco Beasley, a specialist in Renaissance music, joins forces with Constantinople to celebrate, in music, a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502. The longest and boldest bridge of the time, it was to span the Bosporus and thus link Europe and Asia. But it was never built; the plans, however, were preserved in the artist’s archives. Five centuries later, Tabassian re-imagines this bridge with the help of 16th- and 17th-century works from the manuscript archives of the national libraries of Istanbul and Florence.

Marco Beasley, a specialist in Renaissance music, joins forces with Constantinople to celebrate, in music, a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502. The longest and boldest bridge of the time, it was to span the Bosporus and thus link Europe and Asia. But it was never built; the plans, however, were preserved in the artist’s archives. Five centuries later, Tabassian re-imagines this bridge with the help of 16th- and 17th-century works from the manuscript archives of the national libraries of Istanbul and Florence.

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.

This program is the meeting of three captivating musical traditions, deeply rooted in the essence of breath, the vital force that connects all cultures and peoples. The songs and drums of the Mi’kmaq, the invocations of Inuit throat singing, and the deep, evocative sounds of the musicians of Constantinople come together in this concert that celebrates the power of breathing in music. The sounds of nature are carried by two inheritors of living Indigenous traditions, Darlene Gijuminag and Celina Kalluk.

This program is the meeting of three captivating musical traditions, deeply rooted in the essence of breath, the vital force that connects all cultures and peoples. The songs and drums of the Mi’kmaq, the invocations of Inuit throat singing, and the deep, evocative sounds of the musicians of Constantinople come together in this concert that celebrates the power of breathing in music. The sounds of nature are carried by two inheritors of living Indigenous traditions, Darlene Gijuminag and Celina Kalluk.

A musical journey into the world of Czech composer Kryštof Harant (1564-1621) and his travel book that details his odyssey from Prague to Jerusalem by way of Venice, Cyprus, Sinai and Cairo. The internationally renowned vocal ensemble Cappella Mariana and Constantinople join forces to revisit Harant’s music and the music he would have heard on his extraordinary 17th-century expedition.

The estuary represents that astonishing space of transition and transformation where fresh water meets salt water, revealing unexpected potentials, much like the encounters imagined by Constantinople. The new collaborative Opus of kora master Ablaye Cissoko and the ambassador of Persian setar, Kiya Tabassian is the junction point where the rivers of their musical memories join the collective sea of the present moment. We witness a musicianship that bring them into a dialogue at the deep layers of musical conversations and creates for all a sense of wonder and awareness.

The estuary represents that astonishing space of transition and transformation where fresh water meets salt water, revealing unexpected potentials, much like the encounters imagined by Constantinople. The new collaborative Opus of kora master Ablaye Cissoko and the ambassador of Persian setar, Kiya Tabassian is the junction point where the rivers of their musical memories join the collective sea of the present moment. We witness a musicianship that bring them into a dialogue at the deep layers of musical conversations and creates for all a sense of wonder and awareness.