Lamia Yared: Chants des Trois Cours

Date: To tune in, visit this page at 7 pm ET on Thursday, November 5, 2020
Price: Stream for free online

Celebrate the opening of the Museum’s Remastered exhibition with an exclusive performance by singer Lamia Yared and her ensemble.

At 7 pm ET on Thursday, November 5, click the video below to tune into Lamia Yared Ensemble in Concert.

Drawing from her 2019 debut album Chants des Trois Cours (“Songs of the Three Courts”), the Quebec-based singer and instrumentalist will unearth poetry and melodies from the geographies now known as Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Iran, blending stories and cultural influences that would once have entertained and enthralled Ottoman-era rulers and courtiers. Accompanying Yared will be Didem Başar (qanun), Pedram Khavarzamini (tonbak), Noémy Braun (cello), and Reza Abaee (ghaychak).

Yared and her ensemble will take the virtual stage just two days before the opening of the Remastered, the Museum’s newest special exhibition. Like Chants des Trois Cours, Remastered channels centuries-old stories and artistic traditions from different parts of the Muslim world.

But rather than tell stories through song, Remastered is a celebration of the most impressive and rarely displayed manuscript paintings in the Museum’s Collection. On top of the physical manuscripts on display, digital interactives developed in collaboration with Ryerson University Library will allow audiences to delve even deeper into timeless tales of courage, love, and virtuous living.

This presentation was originally scheduled to be part of the Aga Khan Museum’s Fall 2020 performing-arts season. However, because of COVID-19, the program had to be reimagined virtually, and the artists visited Toronto in late August to the record the concert.

BIO

Born in Lebanon, Lamia Yared grew up in Montreal. It was through her travels in Greece, Turkey and Lebanon that she met renowned masters of classical Arabic and Turkish music, where she deepened her knowledge and interpretation of the Muwashah and Türk Sanat Müziği. Collaborating with unparalleled musicians from diverse cultures on Canadian stages, she shares these repertoires of the school of Maqamat from the regions of the Levent.

Since 2013, Yared and her ensemble have been traveling between the Maisons de la Culture in Montreal, various festivals accross Canada (Vancouver Island Festival, Caravan World Rythms, Sunfest, Accès Asie, Maison de la Syria, Festival du Monde Arabe, Festival des Traditions du monde de Sherbrooke , etc.) as well as in the Netherlands and Turkey. Her recent album Chants des Trois cours, recorded with her guest musicians, was selected by the British magazine Songlines (March 2020) as one of the 10 best new album releases.