Balkan Music Motifs

An evening with guitar virtuoso and composer Miroslav Tadić, and the leading performer and ethnomusicologist, Münir Beken.

Balkan Music Motifs

Friday, April 5, 2024
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Goethe-Institut Los Angeles

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These two fantastic musicians will share with the audience their musical background, and inspirations they draw on from the cultural traditions of the greater Balkans, and Eastern/Southeastern Europe. The event is part of SEEfest humanities program, with featured artists showcasing excerpts from their work and having a conversation about the blending of musical themes, rhythms, motifs. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

About the Musicians

Miroslav Tadić is a guitarist, composer, improviser and music educator who completed his formal studies of music in the United States after studying in Italy and his native Yugoslavia. He has performed and recorded in a wide variety of settings and musical styles, ranging from music of the Baroque and Classical periods to Blues, Jazz, Rock and World music. Tadić's performing and recording credits include projects with Mark Nauseef, The Los Angeles Opera with Placido Domingo, London Symphony Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Symphony, The Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte-Carlo, Howard Levy, Joachim Kühn, L. Shankar, Markus Stockhausen, Dušan Bogdanović, Vlatko Stefanovski, Teofilović Brothers, Wadada Leo Smith, David Torn, Maria João, Jack Bruce, The Grandmothers of Invention, Theodosii Spassov, Kudsi Erguner, Djivan Gasparyan, Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri and Ustad Ashish Khan, among others.

Münir Beken is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at UCLA and the Director of the Music of Turkey Ensemble. His career spans theory, composition, ethnomusicology, and performance. As a composer, he has written a state-commissioned ballet suite for orchestra, won awards for film music, and scored television documentaries both domestically and internationally. His scholarly work focuses on modal theory; he is also conducting research on musical globalization and the phenomenology of music. He has published in Ethnomusicology, a premier journal in the field, and contributed to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He was one of the founding members of the State Turkish Music Ensemble.

Venue

Goethe-Institut Los Angeles
1901 West 7th Street #Suite A/B Los Angeles, CA 90057

Parking

Secure, free parking is available at Metro/Retail parking structure with rear entrance to the Goethe-Institut located at 674 S. Westlake Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90057.


Sponsor(s): Center for European and Russian Studies, SEEfest, California Humanities, Goethe-Institut Los Angeles