Music for Shepherds and Sultans

Music from Cyprus and classical music of Constantinople / Contemporary Modal Music.

Michalis Kouloumis and Tristan Driessens embark on what is just the beginning of a closer partnership, with Catalan multi-instrumentalist Miriam Encinas joining them on frame drums and pithkiavlin. Their repertoire organically fluctuates from original compositions in classical Ottoman style to anonymous rural dances of Cyprus. With this choice of repertoire and especially with their way of interpreting it, Michalis Kouloumis, Tristan Driessens and Miriam Encinas bridge a gap between classical and folk music. Compositions such as Isfahan Saz Semaisi or Köyde Sabah somehow reflect how classical music has always been deeply inspired by folk music legacies. Originally rooted in daily life’s rituals, folk traditions draw their expressiveness from a cyclical journey of constant transmission and renewal, which defines their actual legitimacy through time and space.

Michalis Kouloumis - violin, voice
Tristan Driessens - oud
Miriam Encinas - percussion, dilruba, pithkiavlin

Duration: 75'

18th Cyprus Rialto World Music Festival @Heroes Square, Free Entrance
This 18th edition of Cyprus Rialto World Music Festival is dedicated to the memory of Angelina Nicolaidou, a close and beloved collaborator of the Rialto Theatre. An inspiring, prominent conductor, Angelina lit the path of many young people, generously performing and showcasing the work of talented composers.