Weathervane Community Arts and Labyrinth New England present...
The Art of Makam
A concert of traditional Turkish music, contemporary modal music, Klezmer, and more...
with Tev Stevig and Myrtle Street Klezmer
Wednesday December 11, 7:30pm
Montague Common Hall, 34 Main St, Montague Center
Suggested Donation: $20 advance / $25 at the door
No one turned away for lack of funds
Weathervane Community Arts and Labyrinth New England present The Art of Makam, a concert of music both from and inspired by the classical Turkish tradition by acclaimed Boston-based musician Tev Stevig. Stevig will perform on a variety of instruments, including oud and tanbur, providing description and explanation along the way. He will be joined by a local ensemble of his students, who have been studying together throughout the Fall. Western Masachusetts Klezmer band Myrtle St. Klezmer will also play.
Makam is a modal, improvisational system of Turkish music that not only forms the basis of Turkish classical and folk music, but is also foundational in Balkan, Middle Eastern, Greek, and other Mediterranean music.
Tev Stevig (www.tevstevig.com) is a Boston-based musician and educator whose work with contemporary modal music, traditional styles from the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Afghanistan, North India and other Eastern modal traditions prompted the New York Music Daily to call him "one of the world's most brilliantly individualistic guitarists." He composes and performs on a variety of plucked string instruments from around the world, appearing in venues across North America and Europe. Tev's solo release, Jeni Jol: Music of the Balkans, Greece, and Turkey garnered universal praise from critics, with the Boston Globe commenting, "he initiates something new by connecting and combining seemingly disparate cultures," and was one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine's best albums of 2013. Tev is the artistic director of Labyrinth New England and an active member of the Labyrinth Ensemble in Toronto, Çeşni Duo/Trio, Orchestrotica, Czarna Wolgastar, Klezwoods, and the Late Risers. He has studied contemporary modal music with Ross Daly, Harris Lambrakis, Evgenios Voulgaris, Murat Aydemir, Yasamin Shahhosseini, Cihan Turkoğlu, Giorgios Xylouris, Christos Zotos, George Ruckert, and Efrén Lopez.
Western Massachusetts based Myrtle Street Klezmer (www.myrtlestreetklezmer.com) is an ecstatic exploration into the past, present, and future of klezmer music – the traditional celebratory music of the Ashkenazi Jews. MSK’s high-energy music draws on Balkan, Greek, Arabic, Rock, and Jazz music, in addition to favorites from the classic and contemporary Klezmer repertoire. They sing in Yiddish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Ladino, and teach audiences about the background and meaning of the music and the tradition. Since 2021, MSK has been appearing regularly at local venues such as the Parlor Room, Iron Horse, Nova Arts, and Arcadia Music Festival. Core members include Jason Ditzian (bandleader, clarinet), Myk Freedman (guitar), Jesse Olsen Bay (vocals, bass, bouzouki, percussion), Bea Carlson (vocals, accordion), Doug Plavin (percussion) and Dan Baker (tuba, trumpet, banjo).