Heather’s Place House Concert - Labyrinth Ensemble

Join us at Heather’s Place – an intimate house concert venue featuring the incredible talents of Araz Salek, Canan Sezgin Geylan & Yahya Gey

I first heard Labyrinth Ensemble at the Agha Khan Museum. I was lucky to hear the full group of 14 musicians dedicated to the study and performance of modal music, experimenting with sounds that stretch from Afghanistan through Central and West Asia and beyond. When I heard they were performing at the Bata Shoe Museum, I wondered how they would fit! But there were only 3 musicians, one of whom was Araz Salek.

Hypnotized by the rich sounds, I approached him and the ensemble’s director, David Dacks, to ask if they would consider performing at my home. They loved the idea and have formed a new mini ensemble for the event composed of Araz Salek (tar), Canan Sezgin Geylan (vocals, violin) and Yahya Geylan (vocals, oud, Turkish tanbur, Yayli tanbur).

BIO-ARAZ SALEK-a Persian tar (lute) player from Tehran, began his training at eight under master musicians Hooshang Zarif, Arshad Tahmasebi, and Hossein Omoumi. He has taught extensively in Iran and Canada, including at the University of Tehran, Shawrak Music School, and the Labyrinth Musical Workshop. As Artistic Director of Labyrinth Ontario, which he co-founded in 2017, he promotes modal music traditions. Araz experiments across genres, with highlights including his solo album Birth and the Toronto/Crete quartet “This Tale of Ours.”

BIO-CANAN SEZGIN GEYLAN-Born in Samsun, Turkey, into a family of musicians, Canan first learned the mandolin, and later the violin. She developed her vocal style and technique with her father’s extensive archive of prominent vocal and instrumental masters. In addition to performing and producing TV programing, Canan serves as an artist with the Istanbul State Turkish Music Ensemble, operating under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Directorate of the Presidential Classical Turkish Music Choir.

BIO-YAHYA GEYLAN-Born in Izmir, Turkey, Yahya is a classical music vocalist at TRT Istanbul Radio and conductor of Üsküdar Music Society, Neva Music Ensemble, and ISTUN Ensemble. As a soloist, he has performed in countless concerts internationally. Yahya, with his wife, Canan, hosted the live radio program Studio Istanbul, the 13-episode concert series Gönüller Bir Olsun (Let Hearts Unite), and released the duet album Aşkın Dansı (The Dance of Love).

WATCH & LISTEN:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBn3OKzhbUt-_PWxUOhpEExt68ISRs3j/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YFIZB5xS-0ZGtOI37yieYk2uU7MsicVx/view?usp=sharing