Constantinople Launches 20th Album in Canada

To close its 20th season, Constantinople launches its 20th album in Canada and on all digital platforms. Along with unparalleled international acclaim and a brand-new concert, already sold-out in several cities, this new recording highlights the ensemble's remarkable 20th season.

Djalaleddine Rumi (1207-1273), with his body of work encompassing over 100,000 lines of verse, left us an immutable treasure that reflects a refined and luminous understanding of the world. Plunging into his universe and meandering through his texts opens the door to deeper thinking and universal spirituality. He is a timeless source of passion, but also a guide that lifts the spirit, like the light that has always drawn plants to it and helped them grow.

Accompanied by an exceptional group of instrumentalists, Kiya Tabassian and singer Ghalia Benali have recorded a work that is both profound and spontaneous. It is with great joy that Constantinople presents this 20th album, Sur les traces de Rumi, which highlights how far the group has come in its 20 years of existence.

Between February and June 2022, Constantinople will have presented 12 new works, with over 60 concerts in England, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and, of course, a number of cities across Canada.

Kiya Tabassian and Constantinople were artists in residence at Lunalia, the prestigious Festival of Flanders, where they had the opportunity to present a number of new works.

After an appearance in Riga, Latvia (May 15), and another in Hanover, Germany (May 18), the ensemble will present performances in several Lithuanian cities (May 20 to 23 in Vilnius, May 21 in Plung?-, May 24 in Kaunas), and then in Schaffhouse, Switzerland (May 28) and Salem, Germany (May 31), before returning to Canada.

Closing concert of the season: Ciel de l'Iran, Saturday, June 11, 2022, at Salle Bourgie

With this concert, Constantinople's Artistic Director Kiya Tabassian is returning to his musical roots and at the same time joining forces once again with the great musician Kayhan Kalhor, one of the most important figures in Persian music. Presented at the Salle Bourgie of the Montral Museum of Fine Arts, on Saturday, June 11, 2022.

Persian music, in continuous evolution for millennia, is an art that is at once tremendously refined, rich, and touching. Recognized internationally as the sublime master of the kamancheh (or Iranian spiked fiddle), Kalhor is also a leading player of the setar, the instrument that will be played during this evening in duo with the virtuoso Tabassian.

Two free thinkers and musical explorers, Kalhor and Tabassian invite listeners to the point of convergence of their creative universes, for an impassioned musical voyage to the heart of their art, to its Persian roots.

"When I arrived in Canada, at 14 years of age, Kayhan Kalhor was my master on the setar. I took courses with him for over a year until he left to develop an international career, which definitively placed him among the world's greatest musicians. We met again a few years ago, this time as collaborators, forming a setar duo that has been invited to perform on some of the world's most prestigious stages. To me, he is still my mentor, but now I also have the good fortune to see him as a great musical partner."
- Kiya Tabassian, Artistic Director, Constantinople

This work will also be presented June 3 and 4, in Vancouver; June 5 in Victoria; June 8, 9, and 10 in Toronto; and June 12 in Quebec City.

Multi Grammy Award nominee and winner Kayhan Kalhor is an internationally acclaimed virtuoso on the kamancheh, who through his many musical collaborations has been instrumental in popularizing Persian music in the West and is a creative force in today's music scene. He has toured the world as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon.

Inspired by the ancient city illuminating the East and West, Constantinople was founded in 2001 in Montreal by its artistic director, Kiya Tabassian. The ensemble has 19 albums to its credit on labels Analekta, Atma, World Village, Buda Musique, Ma Case, Dreyer Gaido and Glossa. Over the course of the decade, Constantinople has created nearly 50 works and travelled to more than 240 cities in 53 countries.

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