Entre Les Murs

The Tekfen Phil

Last night Janet and I attended a concert of the Tekfen Philharmonic, to which Janet had been invited by virtue of the work she's been doing regarding Turkey.  It's an ensemble that claims to have members from 23 different nations around the Black, Caspian and Eastern Mediterranean seas, with a mission to promote peace and understanding among nations.  But mostly it's a professional orchestra that plays music.

Most of the pieces were from the region, and most of them featured a soloist playing an instrument I'd never known the name of, although the sounds were familiar: ney, oud, zarb, kanun, kemençe, and tulum.  I think my favourite was the ney, which was a flute with a haunting voice.  But the tulum, middle-eastern bagpipes, were a bit of a surprise.  The music was excellent, and different enough to intrigue.

The concert was held in the Eglise Saint Roch, which gave us something to look at - despite Janet's excellent connections, our seats did not permit us to see the musicians very well.

(I was a little surprised by the constant photography that took place during the concert.  Since everyone has a camera in their phone now, everyone is out there snapping away, myself included obviously, to document our lives; but surely it's still common courtesy to refrain from taking pictures, with or without a flash - and there were many with - while the musicians are actually playing.)

posted 5.10.06