A Night of Sufi Music with Cambridge Musiki Cemiyeti directed by Feridun Ozgoren - 11th Boston Turkish Festival 2006

Colors of Anatolia

OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 30, 2006

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A Special Pre-Festival Event
A NIGHT OF SUFI MUSIC
Jahan-e-Khusrau: A Festival of Sufi Music conceived and directed by Muzaffar Ali
Featuring Cambridge Musiki Cemiyeti directed by Feridun Özgören, singer Zila Khan, dance by Wendy Jehlen. Artist Niyazi Sayin will also be present.
*Co-presented with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston* *Co-sponsored by the Turkish Cultural Foundation*

Music is one of the Sufi arts taught and performed, often by musicians who meet at the "Tekke" to sing ilahis, sufi devotional songs. Most often the" ilahis" are accompanied by the rhythm of tambourines (bender) and kettle drums (kumdum), while the melodic line is echoed and improvised upon by a "ney", an end-blown reed flute. The ney has been closely associated with Sufism ever since the thirteenth-century mystic poet Rumi used it as a metaphor for humanity. Sheikh Sadik Efendi, the founder of the Özbekler Tekke, was known for his ney playing; for the past fifty years Niyazi Sayin, also associated with the Tekke, has been Turkey's acknowledged master of ney. The Sufi goal of the cultivation of many arts is reflected in the esteemed title of hazarfun, "master of a thousand arts." In addition to marbling, Sheikh Edhem Efendi mastered woodcarving, printing, weaving, calligraphy, and even devised a new way to make lead pipes. Niyazi Sayin's pursuits have included marbling and music, but also the arts of carving prayer beads, crafting musical instruments, cultivating roses, raising finches, playing tournament tennis, as well as a recent passion for photography. In addition to marbling and performing music, Feridun Özgören also is a master maker of musical instruments. Based on the extremely successful Jahan-e-Khusrau Festival organized every spring in Delhi by Muzaffar Ali, this is the first time the festival is being organized outside of India. It will include performances by leading Indian and Turkish musicians, including singer Zila Khan, as well as choral and instrumental music by the Cambridge Musiki Cemiyeti under the direction of Feridun Özgören, and dance by Wendy Jehlen inspired by the poetry of the Sufi mystic Rumi. Artist Niyazi Sayin will also be present.