Fall 2017
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol Trio
Grammy nominated composer and DownBeat’s September 2016 Editor’s pick Jazz pianist Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol performs his unique blend of energetic and innovative Turkish music influenced contemporary Jazz before he travels with his trio to Paris to perform at Jazzy Colors festival. Sanlıkol will be accompanied by George Lernis on drums & percussion, and James Heazlewood-Dale on bass.
DEVRAN:
Music of Islam, Turkey & Renaissance Europe
In response to the stereotyping of Muslims in today’s politics, Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol employs music to bring together cultural expressions of Islam and Europe, highlight the diversity of Boston’s Muslim community, and further conversation among Muslim and non-Muslim Bostonians. The concert’s centerpiece is DEVRAN, Sanlıkol’s unique new intercultural choral work combining Muslim texts, Renaissance choral style, and Middle Eastern elements into an artistic whole. DEVRAN will be premiered by the NEC Chamber Singers, led by Erica Washburn, and DÜNYA, will perform traditional Turkish Sufi music and Ottoman Jewish music led by the composer.
The first performance takes place following a symposium on Music and Morality at New England Conservatory on 11/9 at Jordan Hall and the second performance takes place on 11/12 at First Church in Roxbury with a panel discussion prior to the concert moderated by WBUR’s Louise Kennedy (details below). The panel will include Ali Asani, Professor of Islamic Religion and Cultures at Harvard; Robert Labaree, ethnomusicologist at NEC; and Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol.
Location, Date/Time, Price:
November 9, Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St., Boston, MA, PRE-CONCERT TALK at 7:00pm, CONCERT at 7:30pm. FREE
November 12, First Church of Roxbury, 10 Putnam St., Boston, MA, PANEL at 2:00pm, CONCERT at 3:00pm. FREE
Othello in the Seraglio: The Tragedy of Sümbül the Black Eunuch
A powerful encounter of Europe and Ottoman Turkey
*a special performance to fund the upcoming film of Othello*
Othello in the Seraglio, a uniquely powerful “coffeehouse opera,” tells an age-old story of passionate love and murderous jealousy, of a black slave at the 17th century Ottoman Court who rises to power and riches, only to come to a tragic end. The multi-layered script is by NEC music historian Robert Labaree, while the stunning score, by Boston composer and Grammy nominee Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, weaves together Italian Baroque and Turkish sources with his own newly-composed music into a tapestry of uncanny beauty. Othello is performed on European period instruments and traditional Turkish instruments by an ensemble of 12 instrumentalists, singers and a dramatic storyteller.
Locations, Date/Time, Price:
September 15, The First Lutheran Church of Boston, 299 Berkeley St., Boston, MA.
General admission: $40, students: $20.
Co-presented by TurkInno
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol & Whatsnext?
as part of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival
Grammy nominated bandleader/composer and DownBeat’s September 2016 Editors pick Jazz pianist Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol brings his genre-busting 12-piece band, Whatsnext? to the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival. Do not miss this unique and highly engaging concert featuring Sanlıkol’s contemporary jazz compositions with intriguing Turkish influences!
Location, Date/Time, Price:
September 30, Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival, Columbus Ave., Boston, MA, 12:00pm. FREE
For the festival performance schedule click here
Summer 2017
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol & Whatsnext? featuring Tiger Okoshi
2017 Summer Tour kick-off concert!
Grammy nominated bandleader/composer and DownBeat’s September 2016 Editors pick Jazz pianist Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol kicks off a Summer tour with concerts in the US, Turkey and Cyprus, at Ryles Jazz Club with a giant of jazz, trumpeter Tiger Okoshi, and his genre-busting 12-piece band Whatsnext?
Do not miss this unique and highly engaging concert featuring Sanlıkol’s contemporary jazz compositions with intriguing Turkish influences!
Location, Date/Time, Price:
July 6, Ryles Jazz Club, 212 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA, 8:30pm. Tickets: $15
Spring 2017
Othello in the Seraglio: The Tragedy of Sümbül the Black Eunuch
with a pre-concert panel on the diverse societies of Islam and race in Shakespeare featuring Stephen Greenblatt
A powerful encounter of Europe and Ottoman Turkey
Othello in the Seraglio, a uniquely powerful “coffeehouse opera,” tells an age-old story of passionate love and murderous jealousy, of a black slave at the 17th century Ottoman Court who rises to power and riches, only to come to a tragic end. The multi-layered script is by NEC music historian Robert Labaree, while the stunning score, by Boston composer and Grammy nominee Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, weaves together Italian Baroque and Turkish sources with his own newly-composed music into a tapestry of uncanny beauty. Othello is performed on European period instruments and traditional Turkish instruments by an ensemble of 12 instrumentalists, singers and a dramatic storyteller.
Locations, Date/Time, Price:
7pm PANEL, 8pm PERFORMANCE — there will be a post-concert Q&A with the panelists
March 2, Emerson/Paramount Center, Jackie Liebergott Black box Theatre, 559 Washington St., Boston, MA.
Admission is free but space is limited.
Sponsored by the Performing Arts Department and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol Trio at Ryles Jazz Club
Grammy nominated composer and DownBeat’s September 2016 Editor’s pick Jazz pianist Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol brings his unique blend of energetic and innovative Turkish music influenced contemporary Jazz and Soul to Ryles Jazz Club with George Lernis on drums, Yaman Akdoğan on bass and a surprise special guest.
Location, Date/Time, Price:
April 14, Ryles Jazz Club, Inman Square, Cambridge, MA, 9pm, $15
as part of Northeastern University’s symposium on cantillation
The Dünya Ensemble presents an historical tableau of different religious musical practices and a variety of cantillation styles in Islam, Christianity and Judaism, especially centered around the Ottoman Istanbul. The many layers of communal interaction in the city created deep historical and musical influences between these religious traditions.