The Labyrinth New England Festival is a two day event celebrating traditional and contemporary modal music from the Mediterranean and Middle East as a holistic and cosmopolitan art form that transcends national borders, introducing this music to new audiences in the Greater Boston area. The festival will feature performances and instrumental workshops by critically acclaimed local artists Beth Bahia Cohen, Mal Barsamian, and George Lernis who have dedicated much of their musical lives to exploring Turkish, Armenian, Persian, Arabic, Greek, and other modal music traditions, providing musicians of all levels the opportunity to enhance their skills and expand their repertoire. The event will begin with a collaborative concert by our featured artists joined by Tev Stevig and Michael K. Harrist on Saturday evening, followed by educational workshops and a community concert featuring performances by many other prominent local performers on Sunday. The entire festival will be a celebration of our local community of performers and educators of modal music from the Mediterranean and Middle East, providing an educational and meaningful experience for all.

Schedule of Events: 

10:00am - 3:00pm: Workshops

Workshops on various aspects of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music offered by Mal Barsamian (10 - 11:30am), George Lernis (11:30 - 1pm), and Beth Bahia Cohen (1:30 - 3pm). See below for more info.

3:00pm - 5:00pm: Community Concert

Community Concert featuring performances by Samuel Sjostedt (Armenian music), Alireza Khodayari (Iranian classical music), Mithat Yavuzarslan and Volkan Efe (Turkish classical music), and Beth Bahia Cohen, Ezgi Kurt, and Fatih Acun (Anatolian Folk Music).

Registration