Brooklyn Maqam is an organization dedicated to presenting Middle Eastern (in particular, Arabic) music, with the goals of expanding its audience, preserving it as an art form, and building community centered around the music.

This month:
Sounds of Cyprus

Sounds of Cyprus is a Cypriot orchestra co-founded by Peter Douskalis and Elena Chris in New York City. The group performs the traditional music of Cyprus in varying orchestrations and styles that both consciously honor the time period of composition and period instruments as well as perform with a modern approach. Elena Chris, vocalist and Artistic/Creative Director of the group, sings the traditional songs in the Cypriot dialect of Greek, as well as in Turkish for songs that contain lyrics in both languages, as well as Arabic for Maronite Cypriot songs. Peter Douskalis, Project/Music Director, plays the laouto, oud, mandolin, and guitar in the group, switching between the proper instrument as needed for the authentic and modern orchestration of the pieces.

Featuring:
Elena Chris (voice)
Peter Douskalis (laouto & oud)
Alex Tasopoulos (viola)
Erikos Vlesmas (upright bass)
Mark Katsaounis (percussion)