Concert Programs – Milo ke Mandarini
MUSIC FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN
We become immersed in the diversity of resonating from the Mediterranean. The Iberian traditional music and the Sephardic poems fuse with Ottoman melismas and rhythms of the Balkans, accompanied by simple percussion or refined tambourine rolls. In an informative way, we introduce the audience to different stringed instruments like the baglama, yayli tanbur, hurdy gurdy or ud, originating from places like Crete or Istanbul.
Their live performances bring us closer to these styles of music, played with a great deal of sensitivity and respect, performed in a fresh and genuine way, and at the same time retaining the identity and distinctive nuances of this music. The result is an acoustic and minimalist sound both deep and meaningful, which we can all identify with. This music project has been on stage as a duo since 2009 and nowadays also performs as a trio or quartet.
Milo ke Mandarini en la XIV Jornada Europea de la Cultura Judia, Segovia 2013
Additional info: Dossier Milo ke Mandarini 2015
THE SEPHARDIC TRADITION FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN
As musicians native to Toledo, searching the Sephardic culture has helped us to understand our Jewish-Spanish history and past, as well as the Muslim inheritance in our culture. We feel this music to be a living and present experience – not just a museum piece – that acts as a link between our present and our past, between East and West.
In the program they perform pieces from the Sephardic tradition and play instruments coming from the regions where the Jewish-Spanish exiles settled after their expulsion, especially in the eastern Mediterranean countries. Those communities found these instruments and adapted them to play their melodies, creating a new version of their
Milo ke Mandarini en XIV Jornada Europea de la Cultura Judia, Segovia 2013
Additional info: Dossier Sephardic Music 2015
MILO KE MANDARINI & JOSEP BEDMAR
On this occasion they perform with the colaboration of Josep Bedmar, a professional from the audiovisual field. Together they create a new show in which traditional Mediterranean music and the projection of live footage are merged. The images are inspired by the music that the audience is hearing at this very moment, evoking subtle feelings that remind us of the sea, nature, passage of time, mediterranean culture, …
Milo ke Mandarini & Josep Bedmar en Espacio Ronda, Madrid 2014
Additional info: Milo ke Mandarini & Josep Bedmar Dossier 2015
EDUCATIONAL CONCERTS: “Mar en el medio de las Tierras”
Even though all our concerts are to a degree instructive, we have sometimes adapted our music project for a children’s audience or for an audience interested in finding out more details about our instruments and the history and identities underlying the traditional music we perform.
PARALLEL PROJECTS
EFRÉN LÓPEZ & ABRACADABRA
Efrén López has been and still is a great reference to us: maestro, virtuoso, performer, composer and a man with a great heart – an “iberian wolf” heart. He has been one of many influences why we find ourselves today following this beautiful path… It is a real pleasure for us to collaborate with this great multi-instrumentalist on his new project. Together with his band “Abracadabra” we perform live the compositions of his first solo album “El fill del llop” (“The Son of the Wolf”).
The whole band:
EFRÉN LÓPEZ: hurdy gurdy, ud, rabab, santur, bulgari, meydan saz, guitar without frets, lauto from Crete
MIRIAM ENCINAS: dilruba, viella, bendir, pandero de Peñaparda (square tambourine from Peñaparda)
CARLOS RAMIREZ: lavta, yaylı tanbur, bağlama, cura, hurdy gurdy, dutar
ALEXANDRE GUITART: bağlama, kopuz, tanbur, bulgarí, bendir, tavil, pandero de Peñaparda (square tambourine of Peñaparda)
ISABEL MARTÍN: bendir, tambourine, daf, davul
CHRISTOS BARBAS: ney