SFEMS presents Senegalese Musician Ablaye Cissoko's Collaboration with Ensemble Constantinople

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Daniel Cullen

Phone: (510) 560-6921

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 15, 2025

SFEMS PRESENTS SENEGALESE MUSICIAN, ABLAYE CISSOKO’S COLLABORATION WITH EARLY MUSIC/MIDDLE EASTERN ENSEMBLE CONSTANTINOPLE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—The Montreal-based ensemble Constantinople visits the Bay Area with three performances hosted by the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS), May 2025. Directed by Kiya Tabassian, Constantinople is an early music and middle eastern music ensemble which explores the rich musical traditions of the world by creating new music through unique encounters between cultures, periods, styles, and people. Traversées is a collaborative program between Senegalese vocalist and Kora player Ablaye Cissoko, and Constantinople director, vocalist and Persian Setar player Kiya Tabassian with support by percussionist Patrick Graham. SFEMS will present the program at three Bay Area venues in Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco May 9–11.

Based in Saint Louis, Senegal, Ablaye Cissoko was born into a griot (a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician) family, continuing his griot tradition while composing new music and collaborating with musicians around the world. Cissoko is a preeminent master of the Kora, a West African harp which is central to the griot tradition. Constantinople director Kiya Tabassian is also a noted virtuoso of his instrument, the setar, with a background in Persian classical music shaping his voice as a composer. The program weaves together music by both Cissoko and Tabassian including settings of text by the 14th century Persian poet, Hafez. Traversées is a program that embraces the timeless role of travelling poet-musicians (troubadours, bards, griots) in carrying knowledge and transmitting memory. “This exceptional harmony that exists today between our music and ourselves has allowed us to create works inspired by our inner gardens and shared voyages, which we present in this concert.” expresses Tabassian.

Fostering a fruitful interplay between Persian musical traditions and a variety of global styles is central to the work of Constantinople whose rich array of collaborative projects bring together musical practices throughout the globe. Their diverse repertoire spans medieval, baroque, and contemporary aesthetics, making their performance an unorthodox, but natural fit in an early music series. “Ensemble Constantinople brings a refreshing approach and an enriching perspective to the early music field.” says SFEMS Executive and Artistic Director Derek Tam, adding “We were really captivated by their sense of exploration, and the dialogue between the two rich traditions represented by the kora and the setar.”

Tickets are available and equitably affordable through a sliding scale, pay-what-you-can pricing model, offering general admission tickets at a price named by the buyer. “We’re thrilled to continue with our second season of pay-what-you-can ticketing this year,” says Tam. “No other presenter in the Bay Area offers such depth and diversity in early music offerings, and pay-what-you-can has meaningfully opened the doors for new audiences to experience early music. There is truly something for everyone this season.”

SCHEDULE:

May 9–11: Constantinople — Traversées

Traversées is a musical journey from Asia to the New World through Africa—a dialogue of deep layers of musical conversations and exceptional harmony between Persian Setar master Kiya Tabassian, and Senegalese and Kora master and Griot, Ablaye Cissoko, supported by percussionist Patrick Graham. Join SFEMS in a musical journey with Montreal-based Ensemble Constantinople, an ensemble at the crossroads of artistic encounters; drawing from the heritage of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, from Europe to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Tickets on sale now at sfems.org.

WHEN:

May 9, 10, and 11, 2025

WHERE:

Palo Alto, Berkeley, and San Francisco. For a full list of venues, please visit sfems.org

PRICING:

Individual tickets available with pay-what-you-can pricing. subscription packages available. For more information, visit: sfems.org or call (510) 560-6921.

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ABOUT SFEMS:

Founded in 1975, the San Francisco Early Music Society is the Bay Area’s portal for early music, promoting engagement with historically informed performance spanning centuries and cultures, and creating a community reflective of our region’s diversity. Through concerts, educational programming, and other support services, SFEMS plays a major role in making the Bay Area one of North America’s preeminent hubs of historically informed performance.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Media Contact: Daniel Cullen (Communications & Patron Services Manager)

Email: communications@sfems.org

Phone: 510-683-1674

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