Art Base

Michalis Cholevas: yayli tanbur & ney, Bassem Alkhouri: qanun & voice,
Alexandros Papadimitrakis,  oud & lavta

Lingua Franca is an ensemble dedicated to the music of the
Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
In the 20th century Greece, Turkey and Syria developed into states with their own national identity, but the musical roots of this identity
stem from common musical underlying principles.
In the cosmopolitan reality of the Ottoman Empire of yore a musical language was created that reached much farther than the current national limits would suggest.
Lingua Franca takes the audience on an emotional journey accompanied by a soundscape of dreamy improvisations or taqsim, rousing dance and lyric poetry.

www.michalischolevas.com

www.myspace.com/bassemalkhouri

Samples and videos