Accompanied on the oud/ud by Nicolas Royer-Artuso, the master Fikret Karakaya will demonstrate the richness of Ottoman melodies and the modes specific to this music, as well as the art of ornamentation, through his playing of the kemençe, a small lyre with a powerful sound. This exceptional concert will be a tribute to the great composers of the Ottoman era and to the art of improvisation (taksim).

Firket Karakaya is a singer, kemençe and çeng player, composer, musicologist, writer and instrument maker. Until his retirement, he was a musician and presenter for TRT (Turkey’s national radio station). He is the founder and director of the Bezmara Ensemble, which has been invited to perform in many countries, and has eleven albums to its credit.
Nicolas Royer-Artuso is a composer, musician (oud, electronic violin and fretless guitar), linguist, musicologist and writer. His work has been presented in Germany, England, Armenia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Georgia, Holland, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey and the United States.

Voice of the body
A musical experience in which the body becomes a veritable instrument of Brazilian music. With songs, rhythms and movement, this musical experience takes you on a sensitive journey through the living sounds of the body and the voice.
With :
Lu Horta: voice and body percussion
Marcelo Effori: percussion and sampler
Gabriel Shwartz: guitar

Lu Horta is a Brazilian artist (singer, composer, body percussionist and teacher). She has a degree in popular music from the Public University of Campinas (UNICAMP). A founding member of the Barbatuques body percussion group, she has helped to create five albums and collaborated on soundtracks (Tropa de Elite, Trash – City of Hope, Rio 2 and The Boy and the World, nominated for an Oscar in 2016). Lu Horta also has a prolific solo career, with critically acclaimed albums such as Paraíso Eu in 2009 and A Noiva da Cidade in 2013. A committed artist, she uses her voice for social causes, notably in a campaign against violence against women. Since 2023, she has lived in Montreal, where she is involved in artistic collaborations with local artists and educational projects with Orff Québec, UQAM, the Maison des arts participatifs and the Centre des musiciens du monde.

The klezmer tradition and its danceable yet poignant melodies will be interpreted on clarinet and accordion, two idiomatic instruments of this music that has travelled from Eastern Europe.

Gabriel Paquin-Buki is a clarinettist renowned on the Montreal scene for the subtlety of his playing and the diversity of his interpretations. He is a graduate of the Université de Montréal, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in performance in the class of Jean-François Normand.

In 2010, he founded the group Oktopus, an octet of Eastern European music (klezmer, Balkan, classical) with whom he has performed over 250 concerts in Quebec, Canada and Europe. His arrangements and compositions on the albums Lever l’encre and Hapax have earned him Juno and Canadian Folk Music Award nominations.

In 2017, he immersed himself in books to complete a master’s degree in comparative literature at the Université de Montréal. In his thesis, he explored the delicate subject of laughter in Holocaust literature. Since then, he has divided his time between travelling, music and words.

Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, is a Canadian musician, rapper and producer renowned internationally for his unique style, which blends hip-hop, klezmer, folk music and electro. Born in Montreal, he is also a pianist and accordionist, and has taught the instrument at London’s Klezfest, where he has also run ‘hiphopkele’ workshops.

A key figure on the contemporary klezmer scene, Josh Dolgin has collaborated with renowned artists such as David Krakauer, Michael Winograd, Fred Wesley, Chilly Gonzales, Sophie Solomon and The Mighty Sparrow. His SoCalled collective project has made its mark with concerts such as Hip Hop Hanukkah, which celebrates the meeting of Jewish cultures and urban music.

In 2010, the National Film Board of Canada devoted a documentary to him, The ‘Socalled’ Movie, which retraces the adventure of the first ‘Klezmer Cruise’ on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. In 2013, he also wrote the remix of Moe Koffman’s Curried Soul, which became the official theme for CBC Radio One’s As It Happens.

Sitaria is a musical project led by sitarist Uwe Neumann, accompanied for this concert by percussionist Subir Dev. Sitaria explores the melodic richness and rhythmic power of the Hindustani (North Indian) tradition. The performances are a skilful blend of composition and improvisation, testifying to the musicians’ profound mastery and close working relationship. The sitar, at the heart of the project, is an emblematic instrument born in the 13th century from the encounter between Indian tradition (Veena, ragas) and Persian influences (Rabab).

Uwe Neumann is a renowned sitar musician and an ambassador for Indian classical music. A recipient of the Ravi Shankar Memorial Award, he studied for ten years in India with the master Pandit Indranil Bhattacharya, obtaining a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music (1997) from Visva Bharati University in Shantiniketan. He has been training with Sri Partha Bose since 2009.

Founder of the Ragleela group in 1990, he has played at numerous festivals in India, including the Millennium Concert in Benares in 1999, in front of thousands of spectators and dignitaries such as the Dalai Lama and Narendra Modi. Based in Montreal since 2000, he has given over 400 concerts across North America, Europe and India, at prestigious events such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Sunfest, and the Vancouver Folk Festival. In addition to Ragleela, he is involved in various projects: Sitaria (sitar-tablas)

Fulani music from Burkina Faso combines song, n’goni and rhythm to tell the epic story of Fulani life and culture. The deep melodies of the n’goni (a plucked string instrument originally from West Africa) evoke the vast plains and stories handed down from generation to generation, while the percussion adds an earthly dimension to this celestial music, inviting us to dance and celebrate.

Dicko Fils (Moulaye Dicko) is a musician from Burkina Faso of Fulani origin. A master of the kamale n’goni, he has made a name for himself with his melodious voice and virtuoso playing, fusing the Fulani and Mandingo traditions. After studying the Koran in Mali, he moved to Abidjan, where he discovered reggae, before founding his group Le Faso Kanou in 1992. His first album, Tounga (2005), marked the start of a prolific career with regular releases until 2016. His song Denke Denke became an anthem in West African clubs. In 2016, he won the Kundé d’Or, Burkina Faso’s highest musical award, as well as several other prizes, including Best Modern Traditionally Inspired Song with Wakati. In March 2025, he released his 12th album, La Route, recorded between Burkina Faso and Montreal. This opus blends Afrobeat, Mandingo blues and messages of peace, love and living together.

Turkish folk music is a living heritage from the many cultures of Anatolia. Rich in regional diversity, it expresses everyday emotions through songs drawing on personal stories. Passed on by türkü singers and aşıks, it combines oral traditions, improvisation, poetry and instruments such as the saz (lute).

Born in Ankara and originally from Malatya in Turkey, Sema Gültekin has been immersed in Turkish folk music since childhood. Trained in baglama and music theory, she developed her stage experience at secondary school, while pursuing an MBA at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University. She perfected her repertoire at the Erdal Erzincan Music Centre. Since moving to Montreal in 2022, she has been helping to promote Turkish folk music through concerts and workshops, both on the local music scene and within Montreal’s Turkish community.

Georgian polyphony is one of the oldest and most complex of singing traditions. Family singing plays an essential role, having enabled it to survive through centuries of invasions and occupations. For Shalva Makharashvili, Andrea Kuzmich and their sons Shalva-Lucas and Gabo, singing is as natural as breathing, rooted in family celebrations rather than stage performances.

Ori Shalva carry on this tradition in Toronto, more than 9,000 km from Georgia. The authenticity of their music stems from years of dedication and a musical heritage handed down from generation to generation.

Ori Shalva, also known as the Makharashvili family, is a unique musical ensemble. Formed in Toronto by Shalva Makharashvili and Andrea Kuzmich, both from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the group was born out of a shared passion for Georgian polyphony. For over twenty years, together with their children, they have been passing on and keeping alive this complex singing tradition, recognised by UNESCO as part of humanity’s intangible heritage. Their performances offer audiences a rare opportunity to appreciate a living tradition that is still largely unknown outside the Caucasus.

Discover traditional South American rhythms such as the bambuco, pasillo, Zulian dance and milonga, and the cultural history behind each piece in the Altiplano Ensemble’s rich repertoire.

Altiplano is a young musical ensemble founded in Montreal by three Colombian musicians: Leandro Ruiz, Iván Ortiz and Pedro Botia. Through this project, they are committed to spreading the cultural wealth of their native country by interpreting the traditional rhythms of various Latin American countries.

The Chœur Baobab invites you on a journey across the continents, where gospel, African polyphonies, traditional Slavic, South American and indigenous songs all resonate with the same voice.

Conducted by Claude Marie Landré, the choir presents a colourful, multilingual repertoire, complete with percussion, choreography and solos. A warm, inclusive and festive performance, true to the spirit of the Baobab voyageur.

Chœur Baobab is a Montreal-based vocal ensemble of 23 singers led by conductor Claude Marie Landré, who has been celebrating the richness of a cappella, gospel and world music for over 15 years. Performing songs in their original language, the choir stands out for its lively, expressive performances without scores, combining choreography, percussion and vocal solos. Winner of the 2ᵉ prize at the Concours national pour chœurs amateurs (2019), Baobab has sung at Place des Arts, Festival Nuits d’Afrique, Igloofest and numerous cultural events in Quebec.