Lesvos at the Crossroads: The Soundscape of a Late Ottoman Island

Event time: 
Saturday, December 10, 2016 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location: 
Luce Hall (LUCE), Common Room See map
34 Hillhouse Ave.
New Haven, CT 06511
(Location is wheelchair accessible)
Event description: 

A concert of music from the 1906 Kerekoglow collection with a slide show of the manuscript and period photos.

The concert program, arranged, performed, and narrated by Harvard ethnomusicologist Panayotis League and his ensemble, is primarily sourced from a rare manuscript collection that was compiled in 1906 by an Ottoman Greek musician on the island of Lesvos and brought to Lynn, Massachusetts during the First Balkan War. A fascinating musical snapshot of the soundscape of turn-of-the century Ottoman Lesvos, the collection contains island dances, Ottoman art songs, European polkas and tangos, Romanian horas, and other pieces popular among the Greek, Turkish, Jewish, Armenian, and Levantine population of the island and the Asia Minor coast. This music is a timely reminder of the pluralistic character of the late Ottoman world, and a sonic memorial to the refugees who, whether in 1923 or 2016 and whether headed West or East, crossed the Straight of Mytilene in search of a safer home and a more inclusive world.

Panayotis League - violin and voice
Dean Lampros - santouri
Joe Teja - guitar and oud
Mike Davis - percussion