The New York Oud Festival is a multi-day, multi-venue music festival that displays the oud and its versatility as it exists in New York's diverse musical culture. The NYOF celebrates the oud and its wide-ranging influence on global music culture, showcasing artists from a multitude of traditions and contexts, and demonstrating why the oud continues to be one of the world's most beloved instruments.

April 23, 2024

Day 1 of the festival will feature sets by Brandon Terzic and Adam Good. Seating is limited so first-come first-serve!

Iconoclastic oudist Brandon Terzic has performed with everyone from rising Sudanese pop Diva Alsarah to master composer Henry Threadgill. Drawing on his blues guitar roots, he absorbed the wellspring of Malian griot and Moroccan Gnawa traditions, as well as the downtown NYC improv aesthetic, and forged it into the sonic calligraphy of the Arabic Oud.
Long on virtuosity, near telepathic musical interplay and the rhythmic and/melodic aspects of India, Africa and the Middle East as interpreted through a western ethos. The Music of Trio Xalam is transcendent and transportive. Led by Oudist Brandon Terzic, the Trio is rounded out by virtuoso cellist Rufus Cappadocia and master percussionist Matt Kilmer.

Adam Good is a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist and composer working with contemporary modal music in the traditional styles of Turkey, Greece and Eastern Europe. His musicianship on guitar, Turkish ud, tanbur, and knowledge of Turkish makam has made Adam a fixture of the Balkan and Middle Eastern music scenes in the US and abroad. Adam’s studies of the ud, beginning in 2005 with Turkish ud master Necati Çelik and makam based composition with Ross Daly have had a profound impact on his musical journey.
Adam plays with the ensembles Dolunay (Turkish music), Brenna MacCrimmon, Greek Judas (heavy metal Greek rebetika), Pontic Firebird (Greek Pontic), and with clarinet master Souren Baronian's ensemble Taksim.

Doors: 7:30

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April 24, 2024

Day 2 of the festival will feature sets by oudists Zafer Tawil and Gabe Lavin. Seating is limited so first-come first-serve!

Zafer Tawil is an accomplished Palestinian musician and a virtuoso on oud, qanun, violin, and Arab percussion. He performs across the U.S. and in the Middle East with such musicians as Sting as well as celebrated world music artists. He was a featured composer and performer in acclaimed director Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-nominated film “Rachel Getting Married” and is composing and performing for Demme’s next film project, Zeitoun. Zafer is continuously exploring the boundaries of Arab music, and often performs collaborative concerts involving classical Indian and Persian music, as well as Jazz fusion. He has been a guest teacher at workshops on Arab music at many institutions and universities across the United States. A native of Jerusalem, he resides in New York City.

Gabe Lavin is a Brooklyn-based musician and scholar. He obtained his Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology in 2023 (UCLA) and has performed throughout the United States and the Arab world, including in Egypt, Oman, Sudan, and Kuwait. He trained at Beit El Oud in Cairo and the Oud Association in Muscat, and has also worked with UCLA’s Near East Ensemble, the Los Angeles Arabic Orchestra, and the New York Arabic Orchestra. Gabe's performance will feature two regional styles within the Arab world that have shaped his playing the most: the modern Iraqi school and music from the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to instrumental versions of songs from the Gulf and Yemen, Gabe will showcase oud etudes and compositions by the founder of the Iraqi oud school Sharif Muhiuddin Haidar Targan (1892-1967) to honor the centennial of his move to New York City, where he lived and performed between 1924 and 1932.

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April 25, 2024

Day 3 of the festival will feature sets by oudists Bahar Badieitabar and Ertugrul Erkisi. Seating is limited so first-come first-serve!

Bahar Badieitabar presents a two-part performance: a solo set of pieces and improvisations from Iranian classical repertoire, followed by original compositions in a collaborative setting with guest musicians.

Bahar Badieitabar is an Iranian Oud player and composer and graduate of Berklee College of Music. At the ages of 16 and 17, she won first place at the Iranian Youth National Music Festival, and has performed at numerous venues including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and MCG Jazz. Her background in Iranian classical music, contemporary concert music, and jazz contributes to her authentic composition approach. She is a member of Danilo Perez's Global Jazz Messengers and has shared the stage with world-renowned musicians such as John Patitucci and Bruno Raberg.

Ertugrul Erkisi is an award-winning singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer of traditional Turkish classical and sufi music. Recognized for his talent at a young age, Ertugrul was a voice artist on the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) station and hosted his own music show on television and radio for many years. He has published 14 albums of his own music in addition to his compositions for other singers and has performed throughout the US, Europe, Central Asia and Near East. For this concert, he will perform traditional Istanbul music and Anatolian folk music from the Caucasus to the Balkans.

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April 26, 2024

Day 4 of the festival will feature sets by oudists Mavrothi Kontanis and Maurice Chedid. Seating is limited so first-come first-serve!

Mavrothi Kontanis is an eternal student of music on a range of instruments and voice, focused especially on the older music of Greece and the Near East. Based in the US but with roots in Halkidiki, Greece, he is known better as a singer in some circles or a teacher in others, but feels most at home crafting a melody with an oud in his hands. By keeping an open mind and drawing from his diverse experiences as both a Greek and an American, Mavrothi performs and creates music that is both Eastern and Western - old and new.
For this concert Mavrothi has selected original compositions, Greek folk tunes, and Ottoman works that offer a range of musical flavors and rich opportunities for expression and improvisation on the oud.

Maurice Chedid, a native of Beirut, grew up in a musical family: his father was a highly esteemed cantor in the Maronite Church in Lebanon, and his sister, a renowned vocalist. He honed his oud playing at the Lebanese Conservatory of Middle Eastern Music, studying oud playing, singing and the traditional Muwashshahat. He has been a frequent headliner in Arabic nightclubs, and has performed in many prestigious venues, including the United Nations, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, as well as many music and cultural festivals throughout Europe such as the Royal Opera Theater in Denmark. A prolific composer, he has composed and recorded many songs and dance compositions as well as the original musical score for the story-theater production of Banat el Emir or The Dancing Princesses.

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April 27, 2024

Day 5 of the festival will feature sets by oudists Ronnie Malley and Ameer Armaly. Seating is limited so first-come first-serve!

Ronnie Malley is a Palestinian-American multi-instrumentalist musician, producer, and educator specializing in musical styles from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and medieval Spain. Ronnie performs with many global artists and ensembles and has worked on award-winning theatrical plays, films, and TV series. He appears on numerous albums and has produced original and collaborative works including Ziryab, The Songbird of Andalusia, American Griot, and Little Syria. Ronnie holds a BA in Global Music Studies from DePaul University and a MA in Languages and Linguistics from University of Chicago, where he is currently a PhD student in Ethnomusicology. Ronnie is the recipient of the 2023 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award.

Ronnie presents 'On This Earth', a hakawati style musical storytelling performance on the oud. Through his instrument, Ronnie weaves stories and music from the Middle East and North Africa to Al-Andalus and the Americas into a personal and historical journey of cultural exchanges past and present.

Born in South Carolina, Ameer Armaly was exposed to the oud and Arabic music in general from an early age through his uncle who played the oud. He went on to study under Simon and Najib Shaheen. Ameer performs as an instrumentalist with a variety of artists and leads an Arabic music ensemble which performs regularly around the New York area, cultivating local talent and reviving the great Arabic instrumental and vocal music of the twentieth century.

This program will showcase the range of expression that can be produced by the oud, both as a solo instrument and as a lead instrument with backing percussion. The oud has historically been part of an ensemble which would accompany vocal music and play the occasional instrumental piece. In contrast, this program will present instrumental pieces typically played by an ensemble but arranged in a way that utilizes the full range of playing techniques available on the oud to produce a full and satisfying interpretation. Some pieces will be played solo whereas others will utilize backing percussion to create a backdrop against which the oud can express itself. The mood will range from upbeat and familiar to contemplative and exploratory, with room for improvisation which has always been a cornerstone of Arabic music, whether instrumental or vocal.

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Date and Time:
April 23, 2024 at 8:00pm
April 24, 2024 at 7:00pm
April 25, 2024 at 8:00pm
April 26, 2024 at 8:00pm
April 27, 2024 at 9:30pm

Location: Various Location in Brooklyn

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